In a span of nine months, the Baltimore Ravens have gone from atop the football world to third place in the AFC North. The defending Super Bowl champions have lost four of their past five games and dropped to 3-5, their worst record at the midway point since the 2007 season.

The Ravens are two games behind the Cincinnati Bengals (6-3) and play the AFC North leaders twice in the second half of the season. In order to make any major move forward, the Ravens have to find a way to start faster on offense and finish stronger on defense.

So far, the Ravens have earned a first-half grade of C-minus. Their past four losses have been decided by a total of 14 points. But all three of their wins have come against teams with losing records and against two quarterbacks (Brandon Weeden and Matt Schaub) who are no longer starters.

Here's the first-half assessment of the Ravens: