Ravens' Offense Struggles in Heartbreaking Loss To Indy, 17-15

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Early in the season, the Ravens’ defense was the brunt of criticism in Baltimore.  I was one of their toughest critics when they started to slide early in the season.  Now it appears Baltimore’s offense is having trouble establishing any kind of rhythm.

Through their first five games, Joe Flacco was posting career numbers, and the rest of the offense was clicking.  The media hyped the emergence of the Ravens' offense.  Flacco and co. were manufacturing ways to win, despite poor defensive performances at times.

Coming into today, Flacco has thrown for 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, racking up 2,199 yards in the process.

Today the Ravens looked like the Ravens of old—Their defense outplayed a struggling, conservative offense.  Baltimore (5-5) could only manage five field goals, en-route to another heartbreaking loss at the hands of the undefeated Colts (10-0).

Flacco was efficient in the losing effort, but simply being efficient isn't enough when you're facing Peyton Manning on the other sideline.  Flacco finished the day 23 of 35 for 256 yards, and one interception.

Derrick Mason had the biggest day on offense, finishing the game with 9 catches for 142 yards.  He was also the recipient of a 45 yard pass that took Baltimore all the way down to the Colts' one yard line.  The Ravens ended up with only three points to show for the effort.

Ray Rice was held to under 100 yards rushing, and wasn't too much of a factor in the Ravens' overall game plan.

Baltimore finally had a solid day on defense, against one of the more explosive offenses in the NFL. 

Somehow, without Terrell Suggs active due to a knee injury, the Ravens held Peyton Manning in-check for the better part of 60 minutes.  The front four pressured Manning enough to disrupt his timing, which allowed for the corners to keep pace with the speedy Indy receivers.  Manning was picked-off twice, once by Dawan Landry and another by ball-hawk Ed Reed.

However, both turnovers only resulted in field goals. On the Ravens’ ensuing drive, newly acquired kicker Billy Cundiff missed an easy 33 yard chip-shot, slicing it far to the right.

The pathetic attempt by Cundiff cost the Ravens three points and ultimately the ball game.

The last chance Baltimore had to put the Colts away came on a drive that ended with a Flacco interception.  Flacco attempted to dump the ball off to Ray Rice, but didn’t see Gary Brackett coming across the middle of the field.  Brackett’s interception snuffed out any hope for a Ravens’ comeback.

Left tackle Jared Gaither appeared to flinch before the snap.  The Colts’ defense reacted by pointing at Gaither in hopes of drawing a flag.  Confused that a whistle hadn’t sounded, the Ravens decided to run the play anyway. 

The misunderstanding on the part of the offense subsequently resulted in Flacco’s only bad pass of the day.

It was another tough loss for the 5-5 Ravens.  Now they’re one game out of the wild-card hunt, and desperately need to find their old winning ways.

Notables

This was the Colts’ seventh straight win over the Ravens.

Ray Rice failed to reach the end zone for the first time in five games.

John Harbaugh decided to bring Billy Cundiff on as the Ravens’ kicker even after admitting Steve Hauschka was their best option during last week’s tryouts.  Both kickers competed against each other for a spot on the roster.  Harbaugh admitted the competition was “close”.

Biggest “head-scratching” moment

The play-calling by Cam Cameron when Baltimore had the ball first-and-goal, inside the Colts’ five yard line.  Why not use LeRon McClain, one of the best goal line backs in the NFL. The Ravens also could have used a five-wide set to allow Flacco a short pass attempt. 

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