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Steelers Upset About Ravens' Illegal Blocks

The Steelers defense is upset about illegal blocks by the Baltimore Ravens in their game last Sunday.

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"You can get hurt from an illegal chop block, but I guess it isn't an illegal chop block if they don't call it," [Casey] Hampton said ...

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A cut block is a block below the waist when a player is not engaged with another player. It is illegal to cut from behind. A chop block occurs when a player is engaged with another player and is hit below the waist.

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"Some of the things they were doing were questionable rules wise and dangerous," nose tackle Chris Hoke said.

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In case you're wondering what the Steelers are talking about, Behind The Steel Curtain has a great FanPost showing screen caps of the Ravens illegally chop-blocking Hampton.

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No one involved is using the illegal blocks as an excuse for the Steelers' poor performance (although they probably could, to a degree, given Ray Rice's performance against a run defense that's usually very tough). Rather, it's a matter of safety. It would be easy for a player to wind up with a serious ankle or knee injury as a result of plays like this. Let's hope the referees start watching the Ravens for this.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.