CINCINNATI-- As the Ravens trooped wearily off the field at Paul Brown Stadium after Sunday's stunning 17-7 loss to the Bengals, the Cincinnati fans let them have it.

"You're not a playoff team!" one guy yelled, in a voice that could be heard across the Ohio River.

Sure, you might wonder about the football acumen of a beered-up fat guy in a tiger costume.

But after watching the Ravens sleep-walk through their second depressing loss to the Bengals this season, you also have to wonder if the guy is right.

How do you explain this one?

How do you explain such an awful let-down after last week's dominating 30-7 win over the then-unbeaten Denver Broncos, a win that made you think this team had turned a corner?

The short answer is: You can't.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh sure can't -- we'll get to his comments in a moment.

And his players seem equally baffled, at least judging by the thousand-yard stares and mumbled answers in the locker room when this one was over.

No, you'd need every shrink in the Yellow Pages to get to the bottom of this one.

"This is frustrating," said running back Ray Rice, held to 48 yards in 12 carries as the offense completely failed to show up for the first three quarters. "I'm not going to be naive about it -- it's frustrating."