Quarterbacks: The Colts really loaded up the box to stop the run, and Joe Flacco couldn't make them pay for it down the field. Some of that was his fault, but there was plenty of blame to go around. Flacco looked much better than he did last week, but that wasn't saying much. There's no doubt he regressed, for various reasons, in the second half of the season. Other than the first drive of the game, he looked lost out there. He threw two interception, and it very easily could have been three or four. Grade: D
Running backs: Ray Rice couldn't get things going on the ground, and when he finally did, his third and fourth effort resulted in a lost fumble. He also dropped a couple of passes, one of which sailed high and resulted in an interception. He didn't get much help from his offensive line, and the Colts stacked the box effectively. Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain were non-factors since the team fell behind by two touchdowns. Grade: D
Wide receivers: Derrick Mason got off to a hot start, but he became a non-factor after the first quarter. Todd Heap and Kelley Washington had a few catches between them, but seemed to both be a forgotten part of the offense. Was Mark Clayton even active for the game? His performance might have put the nail in the coffin for his offseason departure. Demetrius Williams saw a little bit of action and made a lame effort to catch a key fourth-down throw. Why the Ravens were throwing to him in that situation is another question, but Williams may have also worn out his welcome in Baltimore. Grade: D-
Offensive line: It was a truly disappointing night from this unit. After dominating New England last week and also playing well the last month of the season, the unit was pushed around by a much smaller Indianapolis front. Instead of pounding them into submission with the running game, the Ravens lineman were being shoved into their own backfield. Jared Gaither did play, but he might have been better off sitting this one out. He had a costly false start penalty that occurred nowhere near the play and moment later was called for holding. Not only could the group not run block, but the pass protection was questionable at best. Grade: D
Defensive line: This group turned in a solid performance, nothing more or less than what was expected. They shut down the running game, but that was never really a concern. They did manage to get a sack of Peyton Manning, who was only taken down 10 times this year for a loss. However, they got nowhere near the same amount of pressure as last week against Tom Brady, and it allow Manning to sit back there and comfortably throw darts to his receivers all over the field. Dwan Edwards applied decent pressure and Kelly Gregg and Haloti Ngata were stout against the run. Trevor Pryce was a non-factor, as was Terrell Suggs. Grade: C
Linebackers: All things considered, the linebackers did a nice job. Dallas Clark really wasn't much of a factor. Dannell Ellerbe is really starting to come into his own. The Ravens really found a diamond in the rough, and he could be the future star of the unit. Ray Lewis played well as usual. He had a big hit on Clark to cause an incompletion, and then got hosed by the referees for an unnecessary roughness call in the end zone that broke up a touchdown pass. He led with his shoulder, and in that situation, I just don't know how else you are expected to hit him. I guess he should have just watched him catch the ball and score. Grade: B
Secondary: Matched up against one of the best wideout corps in the league, I thought the secondary held its own. Domonique Foxworth had some problems with Reggie Wayne and even Austin Collie, but Manning was never able to hit a big play down the field. I thought Frank Walker turned in another decent performance, and Chris Carr has established himself as a solid addition after a rocky start. The 26-year old should figure prominently into the team's plans going forward. Corey Ivy got called for a questionable pass interference penalty that nullified one of Ed Reed's two interceptions. Unfortunately for Reed and the Ravens, the one interception that wasn't called back for a penalty resulted in a fumble that was recovered by the Colts. Grade: C+
Special teams: Either Matt Katula is hurt, or the Ravens need to make finding a snapper a high priority in the offseason. I'm tired of seeing poor snaps on field goals and punts. It's constant with him. Billy Cundiff knocked home his only field goal of the game, but I'd be surprised if he returns next year. The Ravens broke one kickoff for a long gain, but it was called back because of a penalty on L.J. Smith. He turned out to be the team's biggest bust. Grade: C
Coaching: Greg Mattison did a nice job working with what he had and slowing down the Colts offense, but Cam Cameron's play-calling was really questionable. Throwing an out-route to Williams on fourth down? He never plays, and when he does, his game is going down the field and trying to make a big play, not running a precision sideline route. I also thought Cameron should have run some draws and thrown more screens to put a screeching halt on the aggresiveness of the Colts' pass rush. The Ravens threw the deep ball just once, and it resulted in a completion. There was very little stretching of the field or play-action pass, and the play-calling was too predictable.
Like Bill Cowher said at halftime, the Ravens should have been passing in running situations and vice versa. It reminded me a lot of the Minnesota game where the Ravens struggled to run the ball in the first half and then started getting unpredictable in the second half. The result was a lot of fourth quarter points. As for John Harbaugh, the team seemed ready to play and there were no challenge situations, so he did a fine job. Grade: D
Check back later for more analysis on the loss and another report card that gives the overall grades on the season for each unit. Feel free to leave comments at the bottom of the page or email me at baltimoresportsexaminer@gmail.com.
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