Ugh. Another season comes to a close. It’s one thing to lose, that’s depressing enough. But to play so poorly is a whole different matter. Saturday night’s loss was like a microcosm for all that went wrong during the regular season: penalties, dropped passes, turnovers, a lack of pressure on the quarterback and the inability of the wide receivers to create any separation.

Offense. They had a great opening drive, which ultimately stalled and resulted in a field goal. And then that was pretty much it. The Ravens’ run game wasn’t as effective as it was against New England, and because they couldn’t mount any sort of an aerial attack, first downs were few and far between. It was difficult to watch. And as time slipped away, they played without any sense of urgency. Again, Joe Flacco didn’t play well, but he didn’t have much to work with either. Like in so many other games, his only options were Derrick Mason and Ray Rice and, as talented as they are, that’s still not enough. Grade: C-

Defense. It’s possible the defense would’ve played better had the offense spent more time on the field. But that wasn’t the case. As expected, the Ravens were stout against the run but were unable to apply enough pressure on Peyton Manning, who was able to pick apart the defense with crossing patterns and slant routes. And even when the D stepped up with interceptions, they were either overturned due to a penalty or coughed up back to Indy. Grade: C

Special Teams. Special teams didn’t play a huge part in the game for the Ravens, which probably isn’t a great sign. Chris Carr fielded two punts for no return, but Jalen Parmele could have made a difference on kick returns, but, alas, penalties negated his fine work. Grade: B-
--- RONALD T. ZIZMOR.