Russell Street Report Street Talk Ravens Among Least Penalized Teams

Far too often last season the Ravens drives were stalled or stymied on both sides of the football.

Per NFL Penalty Stats Tracker, The Ravens were tied with the Houston Texans for the league’s sixth-most accepted infractions with 112 penalties in 2013.

Heading into week three’s match-up with the Browns, the team will look to continue their upward trend of not “shooting themselves in the foot” when it comes to penalties.

Through the first two games of 2014, the Ravens have committed just seven penalties enforced for 64 yards on the season, tying (Miami and Tampa Bay) for the NFL’s fewest.

No one is happier than Gary Kubiak who attributed the cleanliness of play to the fast start and victory over the Steelers last week.

“I want to sit here and think that we’re going to continue to get better with everything we do, and we have to improve upon everything. The biggest thing last week [is] we played clean football,” Kubiak stated at the podium following practice on Thursday.

“We didn’t hurt ourselves with penalties, didn’t turn the ball over [and were a] good third-down team last week. So, going on the road for the first time this week, those things win in the National Football League on the road, so it will be important that we continue that.

“But we need to keep working on what we’re doing, gain some confidence. I think our guys up front have gained some confidence over the last couple weeks running the ball, and it will be important this weekend.”

Kubiak’s new offense in particular has been responsible for four of the seven penalties thus far with two false starts and two for offensive holding.

With the first two games played at home, the Ravens will get their first chance to see how new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak’s offense will travel.

While the Browns faithful will pack FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday, by no means is it one of the loudest stadiums in the league. It pales in comparison to Seattle, Denver or even New Orleans, but it will be an important test for the new offense.

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