It wasn't pretty, but it rarely is when you're talking about the Ravens. Against the Colts, they overcame a sluggish start and sloppy special teams late, then leaned on their defense and a resurgent Joe Flacco in what ended up being a closer-than-it-shoulda-been 23-16 win. For Baltimore, the postseason is alive and well; for Indianapolis, the playoffs have been a pipe dream for months and officially out of the question for weeks. 

The Ravens have long relied on their defense to keep them in games and in seasons, and 2017 has been no different. The group came into Saturday's game ranked No. 2 in the league, according to Football Outsiders. And while they weren't their familiar suffocating selves against the Colts, they allowed just one touchdown and bailed out the special teams late in the game after a blocked punt by the Colts.

The Colts' offense took the field after the blocked punt at the Ravens' 27-yard line. They drove to the 10 before the defense stiffened. Frank Gore was tackled for a three-yard loss, and a play later, Jacoby Brissett was sacked for a four-yard loss. An incomplete pass on fourth down sealed the win for Baltimore.

The Ravens' offense has shown signs of life in recent weeks too, and that is huge as this team prepares for January football. Consider this: Flacco, who came into the game ranked 31st in value per play this season among all quarterbacks -- ahead of only Trevor Siemian and DeShone Kizer -- has throw seven touchdowns and just one interception in his last four games, and the Ravens are 3-1 over that span. 

Against the Colts, Flacco was an efficient 29-of-37 passing for 237 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers. Not only that, Baltimore's offense is sustaining drives, which has been a rare occurrence in recent seasons. Here's the 14-play touchdown drive that consumed nearly eight minutes of the final quarter.

This was the Ravens' first game with at least five drives of at least 10 plays since 2011. For as much criticism as Flacco takes for his uneven play -- and some of it is deserved -- it's hard to argue with his postseason record. He's 10-5 with 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, including a 4-0 mark in 2012 when he led Baltimore to its second Super Bowl title. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, it's worth remembering: 

Here are six more takeaways from Saturday's game.

About the Ravens' crowd size

Earlier this week, CBS Baltimore obtained a letter from Ravens president Dick Cass where he claimed that the no-shows at M&T Bank Stadium are at least partially due to the team's pregame protest ahead of their London matchup against the Jaguars. 

We had the poor showing in London, complicated by the kneeling of a dozen players during the National Anthem. That became an emotional and divisive issue. We know that hurt some of you. Others saw it differently and welcomed the dialogue that followed. Others bluntly told us to keep statements and protests out of the game. There are some of you who have stayed away from our games.

We have had significant numbers of no-shows in the past when our play on the field has not met the high standard we and you have set for the Ravens. But this year has been different. The numbers are higher, and it is noticeable. There are a number of reasons for the no-shows, but surely the one-time protest in London has been a factor.

It's worth noting that through six homes games this season, the Ravens are averaging 70,602 fans per game. Last season, they averaged 71,102, or a difference of 500 people per game. Either way, there were plenty of empty seat early in the first quarter of Saturday's get-together with the Colts.

It didn't help that much of the game was played in a driving rain.

Also worth noting: The Eagles have been among the league's most vocal organizations when it comes to protesting social injustice and their attendance remains steady.

Maybe fans are just turned off by the Ravens' boring football and there's not much to it beyond that.

Adam Vinatieri is, in fact, human (and out $500K)

The Colts' 44-year-old kicker has been one of the league's most consistent players, which is a byproduct of his 22-year career. But you have to be pretty good at your job to even hang around that long, and Vinatieri is headed to the Hall of Fame, likely on the first ballot. But he has struggled in recent weeks, missing both his attempts in Buffalo in Week 14 (though, to be fair, that was during the Snowpocalypse Bowl), and against the Ravens he had his first attempt blocked ...

... before missing a 60-yarder as time expired in the first half.

And while no kicker is happy with a miss, the first-half oh-fer was particularly costly for Vinatieri:

Vinatieri converted three times in the second half, and he's now 27 of 31 on the season. But he'll need to go 16 of 16 in the final game of the season to get to 89.6 percent on the year.

Michael Campanaro made you look

Campanaro came into Saturday's game with just 14 receptions, and he hadn't scored a touchdown since his rookie season in 2014. That changed in early in the second quarter when he hauled in this six-yard pass in the back of the end zone.

Ad while it was a fine grab, Campanaro's touchdown celebration was subtlety top notch.

Yep, we looked.

In case you're unfamiliar, high school and college kids -- fine, boys -- have long taken great pleasure in making the 'OK' sign, holding waist high and with arm extended, and getting the unsuspecting to look. The punishment: a free punch because, you know, they looked. (Hey, nobody said the game made sense.)

Frank Gore's still got it

Frank Gore originally came into the league in 2005. He spent his first 10 seasons with the 49ers, who chose not to re-sign him when they figured he had nothing left. That was in 2014. He's been with the Colts ever since. Last year, he rushed for 1,025 yards and four touchdowns. At 34 years old, he remains effective, even if he's lost the burst from his early days. 

Here's career rushing touchdown No. 78:

That's an impressive 14-yard gain. What's odd, however, is that Gore has just one run of more than 20 yards this season -- and only two the last two seasons. Fun fact: During Gore's second season, he led the NFL in 20-plus yard gains.

And because Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith is doing the Lord's work, here are the top-five players with 20-plus yard runs that season:

Weddle Claus is coming to town

Ravens safety Eric Weddle gave the Colts two gifts on Saturday in the form of dropped interceptions, though in his defense, his mind is understandably elsewhere what with the logistics that come with delivering all those presents tomorrow evening.

Playoff picture, what's next

The Colts, now 4-11, were eliminated from the playoff weeks ago and currently will pick third overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Ravens aren't yet looking to the offseason; at 9-6, they need to win their final regular-season game and they're in because of tiebreaker scenarios, even though they began Week 16 as the No. 7 seed behind the Titans and Bills. 

Also, the Ravens' win means the Titans can't clinch a playoff spot with a victory this week. You can check out the updated playoff picture here.

The Colts end another disappointing season at home against the Texans while the Ravens host the Bengals.