The Pittsburgh Steelers were certainly right to be upset when Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs dove at the lower body of running back LeGarrette Blount during the Steelers' 43-23 win Sunday night.

The Steelers were just wrong to call him a "dirty player."

Suggs has never stomped on anyone like Ndamukong Suh. He isn't a headhunter like Brandon Meriweather. And, unlike the Steelers who are most upset at Suggs, he has neither been fined $125,000 in one season like James Harrison nor punched another player like Blount.

There's no defending Suggs' actions. It was a cheap shot. He should get fined by the NFL for unnecessary roughness.

But there's no history of maliciousness with Suggs. He has never appeared on the "NFL's dirtiest player" lists that are voted upon by his peers. If you search for "Suggs and fined" online you'll come across the NFL docking him $5,512 for wearing a gladiator helmet during player introductions. Not exactly Vontaze Burfict material.

"Terrell Suggs is a very respected player in this league," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said on Monday. "He's respected by the coaches and he's respected by the players. I've never, ever heard anything about Terrell Suggs not being a clean, tough player. And he was attempting to make a tackle."

The problem is, it's debatable whether Suggs needed to attempt a tackle. Blount's forward progress was stopped by a wall of Ravens defenders, and the running back was being pushed backward when Suggs decided to propel himself into the hip and lower back area of Blount. If Suggs had gone for Blount's knees, the argument that Suggs was intending to injure would be more valid.

Suggs was clearly frustrated by that point in the third quarter when the Ravens trailed 22-10. He was guilty of his emotions getting the better of him, and he wasn't alone by the number of skirmishes Sunday night.

"I think it was traditional Ravens-Steelers, you know what I mean," Suggs said. "Sometimes you just play football and some things get a little obsessive, but it happens."

Suggs deserves to get punished. He just doesn't deserve the label of being a dirty player.