Baltimore Ravens: Week 5 Report Card

Oct 5, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) shakes hands after the game with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) at Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis defeats Baltimore 28-13. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s get the obvious out the way: Sunday was a tough one to stomach. Some things looked good in the Baltimore Ravens’ 20-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and some things looked not so good.

The easy way to say it is that the offensive effort overall was poor. While Joe Flacco put in a decent performance completing 22 passes for 231 yards, Baltimore only possessed the ball for 21 minutes to the Colts 39.

Justin Forsett ran in Baltimore’s only touchdown but he, Bernard Pierce, and Lorenzo Taliaferro together combined for a lowly 90 rushing yards.

The receiving corps didn’t fare so well either. You know things are bad when a running back has the second most receiving yards. Tight end Owen Daniels totaled 70 yards while Steve Smith finally showed everyone that he is, in fact, human totaling only 35 yards.

Baltimore can take away one positive from this game, that they managed to keep it competitive. But they simply couldn’t move the ball. Even with Colts safety LaRon Landry out, offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak couldn’t seem to get our team into the end zone, calling a very high number of pass plays.

On the defensive side, things looked much better. The Ravens held the number one offense to just 20 points, especially impressive considering Colts quarterback Andrew Luck topped 40 points in his previous two games.

I still remember the day the Ravens drafted CJ Mosley, and he’s slowly coming into his own. Living in Louisiana had me paying attention to LSU opponents, and Mosley has made a mess of the LSU offense in recent years. I knew he was Ravens material. Baltimore’s newest linebacker combined for 14 total tackles and assists with two passes defended and a crucial interception when the Ravens were trying to hold on later in the game.

We were all excited to see Lardarius Webb back and he seemed to shake off rust quickly, making six tackles, with two passes defended.

Overall, there are positives to remember in this loss to the Colts. We all know the areas needing improvement, and we are still seeing that.

Kubiak, please don’t stray away from the running game that has worked surprisingly well in balancing the pass attack. I said before this game that the Ravens defense needs to step up, and they did.

In spite of the loss, Baltimore can be proud of the steadily improving and consistent team that they are, a big improvement from last season.

With a grade of “C” that I deem appropriate, Baltimore can lick their wounds as they still sit in good position in the AFC North.  The Ravens can already begin moving forward to next week, when they take on the weak and beaten-down Tampa Bay Buccaneers.