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Following Sunday's win over the Saints, a handful of Ravens players were fired up about an apparent late hit on quarterback Joe Flacco in the third quarter.
Flacco was sacked on a third-down play by defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson, and after he landed on the turf, was greeted by a knee to the helmet courtesy of Saints defensive end Will Smith.
No flag was thrown on the play, which upset a number of Ravens players and coaches.
"I mean, come on. You have to protect our quarterback," wide receiver Derrick Mason said after the game. "I know his last name is not Brees or Manning or Brady, but our quarterback is very good. He needs to be protected just like the rest of the bunch. You can't allow our quarterback to be hit after he throws the ball or he's on the ground. That's just not called for."
A day later, after watching the tape, head coach John Harbaugh concurred with Mason.
Asked during his Monday press conference what he saw on the play in question, Harbaugh said: "I would say, I saw just what you saw. The guy appears to knee him right in the head after the play when he was on the ground. I mean, it's clear-cut."
Harbaugh wasn't willing to go as far as to say that Flacco doesn't get as many calls as Brady, Manning or Brees, claiming he didn't want to make comparisons.
But the Ravens' head coach said he is sure of one thing.
"I know (Flacco's) not getting the calls," Harbaugh said. "I mean, it's a fact over the last three years; that's just documented. So, I think the officials do the best job they can, and we support them in trying to do the best job they can."
How Flacco reacted to the late hit has drawn a lot of attention in the Baltimore area.
The normally calm, composed quarterback started yelling at Smith as well as referee Walt Anderson, and thanks to FOX's closeup shot of Flacco on the sidelines, we know that Flacco's remarks were anything but G-rated.
Harbaugh joked that he didn't want to go into specifically what Flacco was sharing with Smith and Anderson, but said that he had no problem with his quarterback fighting for what he felt should have been a penalty flag.
"It's important for quarterbacks to stick up for themselves," Harbaugh said, "and Joe did that."
