(My Sportsbook) - Use all the logic you can muster, and it still won't erase the sting for fans of the Baltimore Ravens.

Objectively, the Ravens' 15-6 Divisional Round loss to the hated Colts on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium wasn't much of an upset.

Baltimore won 13 games during the regular season, Indianapolis 12.

The Colts' offense, with its quarterback that is nearly impossible to pressure, was a matchup problem for the Ravens' defense, which has based its stifling reputation in large part on an ability to pressure the quarterback.

Indianapolis' major flaw, its run defense, was going to be hard for Baltimore's second-rate running back, Jamal Lewis, to take advantage of.

The Ravens' four turnovers would have made things difficult against any opponent, much less one of the quality of Indianapolis.

Do any of those explanations make the defeat easier for the Ravens to swallow? Nope, not when the opponent is the hated Colts, the franchise that broke the City of Baltimore's hearts when the detestable Bob Irsay turned tail and ran out of town on a snowy day 23 years ago.

"I'm disappointed for the fans," said Ravens head coach Brian Billick. "They were deserving of better than that."

"You can't turn the ball over in a championship-style game. We had an opportunity...and we can't make the mistakes that we made. You can't turn the ball over the way we did; that's an awful lot to overcome."

It had all been set up so nicely for the surging Ravens, who benefited from a Colts' collapse in the latter stages of the regular season to earn a first- round bye and a divisional-round home game. Baltimore hadn't lost a game coming off an extra week of rest since 2002, and teams with first-round byes were 51-13 in postseason openers since 1990. That the opponent would be Indianapolis was seen as icing on the cake for expectant Ravens fans, who were starving for a nationally-recognized measure of revenge against a franchise they will forever believe to be a fraud.

But when Adam Vinatieri's 51-yard field-goal try clanged off the crossbar and took a fortuitous Indianapolis bounce through the uprights, suspicion began to mount that this would not, in fact, be Baltimore's day. The field goal, the third in a string of five from the ex-Patriots kicker, helped Indy enter halftime ahead, 9-3.

The struggling Ravens offense would get the score no closer, as turnovers (three from quarterback Steve McNair), the lack of a running game (53 yards on 13 carries from Lewis, with only 11 yards coming after halftime), and an inability by the defense to goad Manning into miscues and/or three-and-outs conspired to deny Billick and company their first playoff win since 2001.

Baltimore's hopes were raised after a 51-yard field goal from the trusty Matt Stover cut the Indy advantage to 12-6 with 7:40 to play, but the defense failed to get McNair the ball back over a decisive 13-play, 47-yard drive that culminated with Vinatieri's fifth field goal of the game.

Said Ravens linebacker Bart Scott, "When you make it a battle of field goals, somebody is going to come out on top, and we didn't make enough field goals or put up enough points. I didn't imagine we would lose at all, let alone losing by field goals."

Instead of preparing for a home date against New England in the AFC Championship this week, Baltimore will be left to ponder what might have been, while keeping an eye toward a 2007 season in which the Ravens are likely to be a popular playoff pick. The role of preseason favorite is not one that the franchise has played especially well (see: 2001, 2004), though the fact that most of the team's offensive and defensive principles will be back next season has Ravens fans expecting Saturday's wrong to be righted with a serious Super Bowl run.

"We have to take this in stride, learn from it, grow from it and come back next year and find out if we can get a championship," said safety Ed Reed.

CH-CH-CHANGES?

The first tangible alteration for the 2007 Ravens was made on Monday, when Billick announced that quarterbacks coach Rick Neuheisel would be promoted to offensive coordinator. Billick will continue to call plays, as he did for every game after Jim Fassel was fired in October, but Neuheisel will have more input into the game plan and will remain in his role tutoring signal-callers.

"Rick's abilities are well-documented," said Billick. "He's a very established coach...He's got a great rapport with the players and he's very creative."

From a standpoint of player personnel, the names of three players - Pro Bowlers in linebacker Adalius Thomas and left tackle Jonathan Ogden as well as running back Jamal Lewis - will be worth watching in the offseason.

Thomas, who ranked among team leaders with 83 tackles and 11 sacks, is likely to be assigned the franchise tag for next season. The seven-year-pro will be 30 years old by the time the 2007 season begins, and though he has been a valuable member of the defense for the past five seasons, it seems somewhat unlikely at this point that Baltimore would commit long-term dollars to a player of Thomas' vintage.

Ogden, who was this season named to his 10th consecutive Pro Bowl, told reporters following Saturday's playoff loss that he is considering retirement. At 32 years of age, Ogden could probably play at a high level for five more seasons, which would make a step away from the game at this stage something of an upset.

Lewis, meanwhile, is unlikely to be wearing a Ravens uniform next season. Though he had something of a bounce-back year with 1,132 yards and nine touchdowns in 2006, the former Pro Bowler seemed to suffer from reduced burst and vision throughout the season and into the playoffs, averaged just 3.6 yards per carry on the year, and was the main culprit in the NFL's 25th-ranked running game. The 27-year-old Lewis is due a $5 million roster bonus in March, and the running back will become a free agent if the team does as expected and fails to exercise that option. Restructuring Lewis' contract would not seem to be a logical option for a player that has complained openly about both team management and his role in the offense over the course of his career in Baltimore.

The Ravens could give either veteran Mike Anderson or blossoming backup Musa Smith (an unrestricted free agent) a shot at starting duties next season. The team could also make a run at a highly-sought-after free agent such as the Chargers' Michael Turner (a restricted free agent) or the Packers' Ahman Green (unrestricted), or they could use their late first-round draft pick on a back.

Top running backs Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma) and Marshawn Lynch (California) are unlikely to be available by the time the Ravens select, but lesser prospects such as Michael Bush (Louisville) and/or Kenny Irons (Auburn) could be.

THE SCHEDULE

The Ravens' 2007 opponents will be as follows (dates to be determined):

Home: Cincinnati (8-8 in 2006), Cleveland (4-12), Pittsburgh (8-8), New England (12-4), N.Y. Jets (10-6), Arizona (5-11), St. Louis (8-8), Indianapolis (12-4).

Away: Cincinnati (8-8), Cleveland (4-12), Pittsburgh (8-8), Buffalo (7-9), Miami (6-10), San Francisco (7-9), Seattle (9-7), San Diego (14-2).