A week after the Ravens believed a roughing-the-passer penalty cost them a game, there was no excuse given in watching Peyton Manning rough up their secondary.

The one-time struggling Indianapolis Colts quarterback ripped up the one-time top-ranked pass defense Sunday, throwing three touchdowns in a 31-3 rout of the Ravens in front of an announced sellout crowd of 66,153.

After allowing wide receivers to catch two touchdown passes in the first four games, the Ravens (2-3) surrendered three to Colts receivers in the first half alone.

The offense compounded the defense’s problems, turning the ball over five times. Joe Flacco threw three interceptions, lost a fumble on a botched handoff and was sacked four times.

Like last season, the Ravens were banged up in the secondary. Unlike last season, Manning picked on Chris McAlister, beating the Ravens’ best cornerback for two touchdowns.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh bristled at a series of questions focusing on McAlister, showing more fight than his secondary did for most of the game.

“It wasn’t all Chris’ fault,” the first-year Ravens coach said. “I’m going to tell you right now, we’re not about pointing the finger. If anybody thinks I’m going to stand up here and point the finger at one guy … you can pack up your tape recorders right now. That’s not what we’re about. We’re a football team and we’ve got to get better as a football team.”

The first touchdown appeared to be the result of McAlister guessing at the wrong time. The second one looked like a perfect pass by Manning. The third one came against McAlister again and compliments of some questionable coverage in the end zone.

The Ravens, who had allowed an average of 14 points per game, trailed 24-0 by halftime.

“This one hurts,” defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said. “We don’t take kindly to getting our ass kicked. That’s what happened today.”

Manning, who entered the game as the NFL’s 20th-rated passer, completed 19 of 28 passes and threw for 271 yards. He finished with a season-best rating of 134.7 and the Colts improved to 3-2.

“It’s unfortunate,” Ryan said. “He looked a hell of a lot better this week than he had in the previous games.”

Ravens safety Ed Reed didn’t seem surprised that the secondary had its worst game of the season after some struggles in practice.

“It wasn’t just Peyton,” he said. “We had some communication breakdowns. We had some breakdowns that we knew were going to happen, so against a good quarterback like Peyton he’s going to make plays.”

If not for playing a different site — brand-new Lucas Oil Stadium instead of M&T Bank — Sunday’s humiliation looked like a repeat of last season.

Just 11 months ago, the Ravens faced Manning without their top two cornerbacks, McAlister and Samari Rolle. The perennial Pro Bowl quarterback threw for four touchdowns in a 44-20 rout of the Ravens.

This time, the Ravens were without two of their top three cornerbacks (Samari Rolle and Fabian Washington) and their starting strong safety (Dawan Landry). That forced fourth-string corner Frank Walker in a starting role and No. 5 corner Corey Ivy into the nickel back spot.

Ryan said last week that he felt better about his backups this year than last, calling the depth of the secondary a strength of the team.

But it proved to be a weakness Sunday.

“It’s frustrating,” Ryan said. “We thought we would play a hell of a lot better than we did. You have to give them credit. Manning made the plays. It definitely was their day and not our day.”

On the first touchdown, McAlister appeared to bite on a play-action fake, allowing receiver Marvin Harrison to run past him. The wide-open Harrison easily caught the 67-yard pass for the score, recording the biggest play against a Ravens defense that hadn’t given up a pass over 49 yards this season.

“They came out and made the plays and we didn’t,” McAlister said. “Can’t sit there and say we didn’t expect it. Just didn’t execute.”

On the second touchdown, receiver Reggie Wayne caught an over-the-shoulder pass from Manning for a 22-yard score. Ivy had solid coverage on the play, running step for step with Wayne.

“Peyton made a great throw,” Ryan said. “It’s hard to defend against a perfect pass. We saw that a couple of times with Peyton.”

On the third touchdown, Harrison got open on a slant route for a 5-yard score. He simply broke in front of McAlister, who reacted late on the play.

“I allowed him to get inside,” McAlister said, “and he made the play.”

It was a tough day for McAlister, who had a team-leading three interceptions in the first four games.

McAlister had a knee problem throughout the preseason, but no one said that limited him Sunday.

“My knee is fine,” McAlister said. “It’s not an issue.”

The bigger issue is how the Ravens respond after losing three straight games.

In losing their first two games by a combined six points, the Ravens could point to a Jarret Johnson personal foul or a questionable penalty on Terrell Suggs for the defeats.

After getting routed 28 points, it prompted more reflection.

“You come in here with high hopes and you get it handed to you,” Harbaugh said. “To me, that is an opportunity to show what kind of man you are and what kind of a football team you are.” {The Baltimore Sun}

3 Key Plays

Harrison’s first TD — Chris McAlister is usually reliable in man-to-man coverage, but he let Marvin Harrison slip behind him early in the first quarter. Sixty-seven yards later, the Colts were on the scoreboard and off to the races. They never looked back.

Wayne’s over-the-shoulder TD grab — Midway through the first quarter with the Colts up 7-0, Peyton Manning showed us once again why he’s the best quarterback in football. On third and 10 from the Baltimore 22, Manning spotted Reggie Wayne in one-on-one coverage and lofted a perfectly placed pass over Wayne’s shoulder for another score.

McClain’s fumble — Following Wayne’s TD, the Ravens were down by two touchdowns and needed to respond quickly to get back in the game. Instead, Le’Ron McClain coughed up the ball on a screen play deep in Ravens’ territory. The Colts tacked on an Adam Vinatieri field goal to put the game away before the first quarter had come to a close. {MATT VENSEL, B}

Hit of the game: Baltimore kick returner Yamon Figurs didn’t have a good day at the office. Not only was he utterly ineffective, but he also got lit up by Indy’s Melvin Bullitt on consecutive first-quarter kickoff returns. Figurs only attempted one return the rest of the game. {MATT VENSEL, B}
Play of the game: The Colts had plenty of big plays, but none more impressive than Dominic Rhodes’ 38-yard first-half run. Rhodes broke five Ravens’ tackles — and busted out a couple of spin-o-ramas — in a demoralizing run that summed up the Ravens’ afternoon. {MATT VENSEL, B}

Five Observations:
1. The Ravens excelled at running the ball in their first four games, outmuscling opponents in the trenches. On Sunday, they had no answer for the Colts’ fast, slippery defensive front, which held Willis McGahee and his backfield mates to 51 yards rushing.

2. Cornerback Chris McAlister, who played well in previous weeks, was absolutely victimized by Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison (three catches for 83 yards and two scores). In his defense, he was left one-on-one with a future Hall of Famer with little safety help over the top. Let’s just chalk this up as a bad week for No. 21.

3. Joe Flacco looks lost out there. He’s now thrown seven interceptions and looks to be regressing. Maybe John Harbaugh should reconsider opening up the quarterback competition before Flacco’s confidence is wrecked and the Ravens fall completely out of the playoff picture.

4. Hopefully, Flacco took some notes while watching Manning from the sidelines. Flacco can learn a lot from the way Manning avoids pressure, and, subsequently, sacks and costly turnovers.

5. Todd Heap, where have you gone? Tight ends have traditionally had success in Cam Cameron offenses, but Heap has just eight catches for 91 yards this season. That kind of disappearing act usually gets you on the back of milk cartons. {MATT VENSEL, B}

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