National Football League

Steelers, Ravens, refs meet on Sunday

Published Dec. 4, 2010 4:38 p.m. ET

Alex Marvez

Three teams will be in the spotlight Sunday during the latest incarnation of the NFL's hardest-hitting rivalry.

The Pittsburgh Steelers. The Baltimore Ravens. And referee Terry McAulay's seven-man crew.

Officials prefer doing their job in relative anonymity, but the Steelers have made that impossible. Players, head coach Mike Tomlin and even franchise president Art Rooney II continue to carp about what they claim is unfair treatment, especially toward James Harrison. The star outside linebacker was fined $25,000 — raising his season total to $125,000 — for leading with his helmet when hitting Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick during last Sunday’s game.

The situation has become so polarizing that even some Ravens defenders are backing Harrison. Considering the long-standing animosity between these two franchises, this is the equivalent of Republicans supporting an Obama-led political initiative.

Outside linebacker Jarret Johnson was the latest Raven to decry Harrison’s six-figure fine total.

“I don’t think a tenth of that is fair to him,” Johnson told FOXSports.com after Friday’s practice at Ravens headquarters.

The NFL insists the Steelers aren’t being targeted and stress that officials are adroitly following the league’s enhanced player safety mandates by enforcing rules already on the books. But there are others outside Pittsburgh’s locker room who agree with Steelers safety Ryan Clark’s recent assessment that officials are “on edge” because of league pressure and forced into a “make the call first, review it later” approach.

Regardless of which side is right, the possibility of Sunday’s game being filled with yellow flags is a distinct possibility considering the bone-crunching history between two traditionally strong defensive squads and the current state of NFL officiating.

“I hope not,” Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said. “We’d like to see both teams pin their ears back. Any time you get that kind of thing involved in the game, it’s not good for us and it’s not good to watch. I hope everybody plays good football and (the officials) let us go after each other.”

This is coming from someone who hasn’t benefited from the extra protection the NFL tries to give quarterbacks. The league has privately acknowledged 11 of 12 hits on Flacco that should have drawn personal foul penalties since the start of the 2009 season weren’t properly called on the field, FOXSports.com has learned.

Asked if the NFL’s stronger enforcement of safety rules has made a difference, Flacco said, “I have not noticed one thing.”

“If it is a penalty, that’s all I want,” Flacco continued. “I don’t want them to get fined a week afterward. I’ve gotten hit in the head and we haven’t had any roughing-the-passer calls. There’s been several over the past couple of years and we don’t get penalties … I just hope it gets called evenly both ways.”

Conversely, Johnson said he does detect a slight change in the way defenders are playing because of the NFL’s push to eliminate helmet blows.

“Guys on crossing routes, they’re aiming lower,” said Johnson, an eight-year NFL veteran. “You see some guys backing off a little bit. But for the most part, when you’re playing you can’t think about that stuff. You’ve got to play. If they fine you, you’ve just got to eat the fine.

“It sucks.”

Some of the most memorable moments in Steelers-Ravens history involved helmet-to-helmet contact. Baltimore players were on the receiving end of most. Clark sent running back Willis McGahee to the hospital in an ambulance with a crushing blow following a catch in the AFC Championship Game two seasons ago.

Not even Baltimore’s defensive players are immune. Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward — known for his controversial blocking style — once broke Rod Woodson’s nose and knocked fellow safety Ed Reed woozy.

In today’s NFL, such shots would draw fines and a possible suspension, especially if there were a pattern to such actions.

Pittsburgh’s defense has drawn four personal fouls in a two-game span that featured 24 overall team infractions. Tomlin says his team is re-emphasizing the proper tackling technique during practice.

“We’re going to do the very best we can to try and play within the rules, play hard and play fair,” Tomlin told me and co-host Rich Gannon earlier this week on Sirius NFL Radio. “That’s all we can control. We’re not going to get too out of whack when it comes to dealing with these things as long as I’m seeing guys doing everything within their power to play within the rules.”

Ravens coach John Harbaugh’s safety push has paid higher dividends. He said Baltimore began emphasizing defensive contact between the neck and waist before the 2009 season began.

“The No. 1 thing needs to be player safety,” Harbaugh said. “If you’re in a vulnerable position and you can’t protect yourself … your head should be protected. I can’t imagine that any player can disagree with that.

“What the definitions are and all that, that’s always open for conversation. We should continue to have those conversations. But when you launch yourself into the head in a guy who can’t see it coming or defend himself, that’s going to be against the rules.”

Harbaugh cited Ravens future Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis as a player who re-educated himself.

“He’s just as physical as he’s ever been,” Harbaugh said. “But he’s been doing it within the rules, I think out of respect for the guys he’s been going against. It’s been very successful.”

Success on Sunday night is imperative for everyone involved in the game. The Steelers-Ravens winner will claim the AFC North lead with a 9-3 record. As for McAulay and Co., a well-officiated game will quiet Pittsburgh’s griping and reaffirm the NFL’s championing of its officials’ accuracy.

“It’s still going to be everything it’s always been,” Harbaugh said of a series decided by an average margin of 4.4 points in the past seven games. (Pittsburgh holds a 4-3 edge.)

“It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be hard-fought. It’s going to be close. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be the great rivalry it’s always been.”

We can only hope.