The Ravens wake up this morning still very much in the thick of the AFC North and AFC playoff picture.

Last night’s final drive collapse and 26-21 loss in Atlanta doesn’t change that.

But the Ravens also wake up this morning with three growing areas of concern that absolutely must be addressed by John Harbaugh and his staff over the next seven weeks. If the Ravens can’t figure out a solution to these issues before the end of December, post-season action in Baltimore might not be a slam dunk.

First and foremost is this club’s growing lack of energy and production in the first half of road games. Over the last 10 away games, the Ravens have put up ZERO points in five of them. In those 10 games, Joe Flacco and Company have produced a total of 51 first-half points. 51. For those without the great math skills that I acquired at Glen Burnie HS, that’s 5.1 points-per-half.

You can’t win football games when you average 5.1 points in the first half.

Last night in Atlanta, the club decided – again – to NOT involve Anquan Boldin in the first 30 minutes. Todd Heap was also on the endangered species list in the first half. I don’t get it. You gave Boldin $15 million to come in and “be the difference” and you’re not going to throw the ball to him once in two quarters? Bizarre. And what is going on with Donte’ Stallworth? I know he’s just breaking back into the lineup and all, but the only two times he touched the ball last night were on runs…end-around/reverse type deals. I thought this was the guy with the wheels of fire who was going to blaze past people and run the “go” pattern and stretch the field? What happened to that concept?

And for whatever reason – and only Joe can answer this – Flacco seems to have developed this reputation for coming out in a fog on the road. I don’t know what that’s all about, but someone needs to have a discussion with HIM to see if he’s aware of it and to see if he can put his finger on why it’s happening. 51 points in the first half in the last 10 road games is an issue that must be addressed, since there’s a better than average chance that the club is going to have to win at least one, maybe two, post-season road games in order to get to Dallas in February. And yes, I’m aware the other team tries too. But not using Boldin and Heap and Stallworth in the first half last night wasn’t a one-off thing. It’s been part of the team’s offensive woes all season. It has to be fixed.

Bullet-point #2 deals with the club’s special teams. Save for Sam Koch and Billy Cundiff, it’s hardly been special. Biggest issue? They can’t find one guy on the team who can catch the ball, do the right thing with it, hold on to it, and help create