Only winless NFL team – the Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens won’t have much time to lament their status as the only winless team in the AFC.
Baltimore has a short work week before facing the rival Pittsburgh Steelers on the road Thursday night. The Ravens practiced Monday and will also hit the field today before heading north Wednesday.
During that quick turnaround, coach John Harbaugh and his players will strive to correct the many flaws that contributed to Baltimore’s unprecedented 0-3 start.
On Sunday, the Ravens lost to Cincinnati 28-24 despite twice holding the lead in the fourth quarter. Baltimore gave up 383 yards passing, managed only 36 yards on the ground and was flagged for 13 penalties totaling 116 yards.
“We’ve just got to get better at what we’re doing, across the board,” Harbaugh said Monday.
There is much to do, but in this case, a short week is actually a good thing.
“You do like to get right back at it, there’s no question about it, win or lose,” Harbaugh said. “But especially when you lose, you want to get right back at it and get a chance to redeem yourself. The guys are excited about that.”
In his previous seven years as Baltimore’s coach, Harbaugh never experienced an 0-2 start. Before Sunday, the Ravens were the only current team in the NFL that had never been 0-3.
In spite of it all, Harbaugh has not lost faith that this season can be salvaged.
“We’re a very confident football team,” he said. “We feel like we can overcome any adversity. We have before, and we will again.”
Carolina trades for Bears’ Allen: The Carolina Panthers said they’ve acquired veteran defensive end Jared Allen from the Chicago Bears in exchange for a future late-round draft pick.
The trade will become official once Allen passes a physical, team spokesman Steven Drummond told the Associated Press.
The Panthers felt the move was necessitated after their top pass rusher Charles Johnson went down with a hamstring injury in Sunday’s 27-22 win over the New Orleans Saints.
The Panthers lost their other top pass rusher Greg Hardy this past offseason when he signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent.
Heat is on Philbin: Joe Philbin arrived at work at 5:30 a.m. Monday with a long to-do list.
“I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep,” he said.
No wonder. Three games into the Miami Dolphins’ season, it seems to be slipping away. Philbin started the year with little job security, and in the wake of Sunday’s 41-14 loss to Buffalo, there’s speculation regarding whether he’ll make it beyond Week 4.
The Dolphins (1-2) looked lackluster in all three games while playing progressively worse and sinking to last place in the AFC East. Now they face a long flight Thursday to London for Sunday’s game against the division rival Jets, needing a rapid rebound to reverse the direction of a season that held high hopes when September began.
Philbin said everything will be evaluated, including possible lineup tweaks, and he found nothing good about his team’s latest performance.
But in keeping with the cautious coach’s nature, dramatic changes are unlikely.
“This is not a time to panic,” he said. “We’re not getting 53 new players. We’re not getting 24 new coaches. We’re either going to find solutions to these problems or not, and we’re either going to stick together or not.”
Referee, Newton at odds over words: NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino told the NFL Newtork referee Ed Hochuli insists he never told Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton he “wasn’t old enough” to get a personal foul call during Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.
In the interview Monday, Blandino said he spoke with Hochuli and “Ed was adamant that he did not say that.”
Newton called out the veteran referee after Carolina’s 27-22 win after he felt a personal foul should have been called on Saints defensive tackle Tyeler Davison for hitting him out of bounds.
Blandino said Hochuli told Newton “the difference is you were running.”
Blandino said Hochuli could be reprimanded in the event it is confirmed he told Newton he “wasn’t old enough” to get a call.