Photo by Associated Press Colts cornerback Melvin Bullitt breaks up a pass intended for Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason on Sunday. Mason had 142 yards receiving, but it wasn't enough to help his team reach the end zone.

WHAT'S HAPPENED TO the Baltimore Ravens offense?

In Sunday's 17-15 loss to Indianapolis, the Ravens found a field-goal kicker, but still haven't found a way for their offense to get into the end zone. It's not a new problem for the Ravens, who in the past have relied a lot on their defense and field goals to win games, even during their Super Bowl year.

They thought they had that problem solved early this year when they scored 13 offensive touchdowns in their first three games and got off to a 3-0 start. But in their last seven games, they have just 11 offensive touchdowns, and three of those came in the fourth quarter against Minnesota. They have just two touchdowns in their last three games.

As a result, the Ravens have fallen to 5-5 and are a longshot to make the playoffs.

On Sunday, Baltimore got inside the Colts 30-yard line seven times, but came away with just five field goals by kicker Billy Cundiff, whom the Ravens signed last week to replace the ineffective Steve Hauschka. (One fan suggested that if Hauschka was still with the Ravens it might have been a shutout). Cundiff missed one attempt from the 30.

The Ravens also failed to score when Joe Flacco was intercepted at the Indy 13 in the fourth quarter on a third-and-7 at the Colts 14.

Watching the game on Sunday must have brought back a lot of memories for former-Baltimore and current-Indy kicker Matt Stover. Over the years, the Ravens relied a lot on Stover's foot to win games. Stover had one field goal, a 25-yarder with seven minutes left on Sunday, that ironically turned out to be the game-winner.

"The obvious difference was the red zone, both ways," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said after the game.

"We've got to score sevens, not threes," running back Ray Rice said.

"Kicking all those field goals, you can't do that against good teams," center Matt Birk said.

The Colts (10-0) are one of the best teams in the NFL.

The Ravens were especially frustrating when they couldn't score on a first-and-goal at the Indy 1 early in the fourth quarter. They had to settle for Cundiff's fifth field goal.

"We expect to get in there, but at the same time, we came away with a field goal, and we had a chance to win the game with a couple of minutes left," Flacco said.

So, why are the Ravens having so many problems scoring offensive touchdowns in their last seven games?

"It's just execution," Birk said. "We're moving the ball in between the 30s. When you get in the red zone you have just to be that much sharper. We have to find a way to put it in the end zone."

"It's not a play call, it's not the coaches," Rice said. "It's a mentality"

Right now, it's a bad mentality.

IT WAS ONLY because of Cundiff, that the Ravens remained close and had a chance to win. He hit from 46, 44, 38, 36 and 20 yards.

The one miss came on a snap that was a bit high, which seemed to throw off Cundiff.

"I will store my miss in my memory bank," he said. "I should have slowed down a little bit, made sure the operation was solid and just put the ball down the middle."

But overall, Cundiff was happy with his performance.

"Five of six, the first time I have kicked in a while, it's good to get those kicks, but you want to win," said Cundiff, who kicked for Cleveland earlier this season.

He said he didn't think about Stover at all.

"I know that is something the fans have been talking about quite a bit, but I never see the game as a kicker-versus-kicker matchup," he said.

THE RAVENS DEFENSE came though with some clutch plays Sunday. Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, who might be having the best season of his career, threw for 299 yards and a touchdown. But he was also intercepted twice, once by Dawan Landry and another by Ed Reed. The Colts also lost a fumble at the Baltimore 1-yard line when receiver Tom Santi couldn't hold onto the ball after a hard hit by the Ravens Ray Lewis.

"We got their worst today," Rice said.

But, still, it was enough to beat the Ravens.

Flacco completed 23 of 35 passes for 256 yards, the most yards he's had since throwing for 385 yards against Minnesota in the sixth game.

He couldn't have picked a worst time for his lone interception. With the football on the Indy 14 late in the fourth quarter, he tired to get the ball to Rice over the middle, but it was picked off by Gary Brackett, taking away any chance the Ravens had of taking the lead.

"It was a bad job going to Ray in that situation," Flacco said. "I didn't see the guy."

Mason caught nine passes for 142 yards, a season-high for him in receptions and yards in a game.

Rice gained 71 yards on 20 carries and Willis McGahee had 25 on six carries.

Remember when McGahee scored five touchdowns in the Ravens' first three games? He hasn't scored since. Twice he was stopped Sunday with the ball at the Indy 1.

The Ravens have six games left, starting with a home game against Pittsburgh next week. A loss there would pretty much knock them out of the playoffs.

"We've got to find a way to win games, it's a simple at that," Birk said.

"We need to go out and we need to win every single game from here on out," Mason said. "That's what it boils down to."