We knew the Ravens would find the going tough in Indianapolis but most of us expected this to be a shootout between Andrew Luck and Joe Flacco. It was anything but.

What we saw was a sloppily played game from both teams albeit a physical and closely fought struggle.

As a franchise the Ravens have yet to win in Indianapolis and unfortunately on Sunday it was yet another typical trip to the stadium by “The Brickyard”.

THE GOOD

It wasn’t one of Joe Flacco’s best games (case in point a very bad interception on a ball intended for Torrey Smith) but he gets a positive nod for being one of, if not THE toughest quarterback in the NFL. Despite constant pressure he fought to make plays and more often than not was adept at escaping the jailbreak of blitzers in the interior offensive line…Owen Daniels was productive hauling in 5 catches for 70 yards but the one play he’d probably like to have back was the 4th and 1 attempt in the second quarter when he tripped trying to sift through the Colts defense towards the left corner of the end zone. Think back to his first touchdown as a Raven against the Steelers. He fell on the play Sunday leaving Flacco with Jah Reid as his only other receiver. Imagine that…

Justin Forsett continues to make plays producing 97 yards of offense on 13 touches…Pernell McPhee stayed in beast mode and was menacing while chipping in with the game’s only sack for the Ravens to go with another tackle for loss and a QB hurry…Sam Koch netted 47 yards on 5 punts 3 of which were pinned inside the 20.

THE BAD

Steve Smith, Sr. was as insignificant on Sunday as he was significant the week before against the Panthers. Five catches for 34 yards from your No. 1 WR isn’t good enough. Making matters worse was his fumble deep in Ravens territory early in the game leading to the Colts first points. That said, count me among those who think that it was a drop and not a fumble…

Jacoby Jones needs to sit. He simply isn’t dependable as a receiver or as a punt returner and his decision-making on punts and kick returns is poor. This isn’t 2012 and his 30-year old legs just don’t have the same explosiveness anymore plus he lacks confidence catching punts in traffic that too often bounce deeper into Ravens territory or worse (see below). It’s time to give Michael Campanaro a shot. He adds a dimension to the offense and special teams currently not available – but sorely needed.

Torrey Smith has had a bad season leading into the Colts’ game where things got even worse. He isn’t a playmaker, he’s very one-dimensional and his hands, like Jones’ aren’t dependable. And perhaps even worse, he and Flacco are NOT on the same page and they haven’t been since Gary Kubiak took over the offense. Here’s some perspective, during a season when Torrey had to make his mark as a free agent, he’s the league’s 79th leading receiver with just 176 yards through 5 games (35.2 ypg). Reading between the lines of this Tweet, Torrey is feeling the pressure. How he deals with it could influence his future with the team.

I’m sick right now…never been in this position before…very trying times for me on and off the field but I will be better from this — Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) October 5, 2014

Terrell Suggs is obviously hurt and shouldn’t be on the field. The Colts effectively double-teamed Brandon Williams and Haloti Ngata and often used a tight end to silence Suggs. Unfortunately it worked… Dean Pees had his unit ready to play but why they didn’t come after Andrew Luck more was a mystery. The Colts had a patchwork interior O-Line yet Pees and the Ravens didn’t challenge them with more A-gap pressure of their own. When they did it lead to 2 interceptions.

THE UGLY

James Hurst had the single worst performance on the team in Indy and his was one of the worst performances in recent memory by an offensive lineman. It was very Oniel Cousins-esque. He allowed 3 sacks, a QB hit and 3 other QB pressures. That’s 7 negative plays during 42 Flacco drop backs…Gary Kubiak’s game plan was hardly a plan at all. He had no answer for the constant barrage of A-gap blitzing and the run v. pass balance that was such a key component of the team’s 3 wins was abandoned. That’s just not what you want on the road…More eye-popping ugliness: 1 for 11 on third down; Colts had 23 more offensive plays than the Ravens (80-57) and they possessed the ball 17:26 more than the Ravens.

THE MEGAN FOX

CJ Mosley had 14 tackles, a couple of which were outstanding open field takedowns while avoiding free blockers. His QB hurry and crunching hit on Luck was a huge influencer of Haloti Ngata’s interception and Mosley later added a pick of his own. Six of his tackles contributed to a negative offensive play for the Colts. Mosley’s play certainly caught the attention of former DPOY Terrell Suggs.

“I think he played phenomenal. We all have got to catch up to him. He was out there making a lot of plays. We knew the kid was special coming in and that’s why we brought him in here and Ozzie (Newsome) drafted him. We knew he was special, and he had a hell of a day today.”

NOTES

For those questioning John Harbaugh’s failure to challenge the “fumble” by Steve Smith, Sr. keep in mind that all turnovers are reviewed from the booth with no coaches’ challenges needed. The play was reviewed (very quickly) and deemed a fumble by the booth guys. Contrast that play with the play that was ruled an incomplete pass to Kelvin Benjamin last week in Baltimore. The argument could be made that Benjamin possessed the ball longer than Smith. Why the booth didn’t take more time to review Sunday’s play is just a head scratcher.

Gifs courtesy of Gordon Dixon

References: NFL.com, ProFootballFocus.com