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In their first six games, the Ravens' special teams unit has shut down some of the league's most prolific kick returners.
But they continue to commit penalties on kicks and are struggling to get big plays out of their own return game, problems which are starting to frustrate head coach John Harbaugh.
In Sunday's loss to the Patriots, the Ravens had two special teams penalties in the final three quarters (I'm counting overtime as a quarter) which threw off field position and left the Baltimore offense starting inside their own 20-yard line.
The holding penalty on rookie tight end Ed Dickson and the block in the back whistled on cornerback Cary Williams left Harbaugh steaming during yesterday's press conference.
"Penalties just aren't acceptable right now, and there's no reason for them," Harbaugh said. "It's been coached and coached, and it's been drilled and drilled, and it's been made important and made important. We got better at it last year, and they're starting to crop up again."
So what do the coaches do from here? What's their next plan of attack to try and put a stop to the special teams flags?
"The only thing I can say to those guys is that, 'You won't be playing,'" Harbaugh said. "Flat out. If you can't block without holding a guy on special teams, if you can't tell that that's his back and not his front and you put your hands on his back, then you can't play for us. It's just that simple."
Well, there you go. That type of attitude seems a little overdue, but good for Harbaugh for taking a stand.
As for the return game, the Ravens are currently languishing in the bottom third in the league in both return categories, getting just 21 yards per kick return and only 5.7 yards per punt return.
Two major issues on Sunday were the Ravens' punt returners letting punts bounce and pick up extra yardage on the ground, and the indecisiveness of kickoff returner Jalen Parmele, who twice ran kicks out of the end zone when Harbaugh would have preferred he take the touchback.
Harbaugh was critical of both Parmele and punt returner Chris Carr in his meeting with the media yesterday.
"Before we get longer returns, maybe we can catch the ball," Harbaugh sarcastically quipped. "We lost 69 yards in situations like that, overall special teams, not just the punts.
"We shouldn't have brought those two balls out of the end zone. There's no reason to go left and come back right from three yards deep, and you don't bring one out when it's 4.3 hangtime or thereabouts. So, that's just decision-making."
Again, Harbaugh promised personnel changes if adjustments aren't made by the guys in question.
"We will find a returner that will make good decisions and run the ball where we want it run," Harbaugh said. "We just have to do that. It's really important."
