The Kansas City Chiefs, with all their flaws and inexperience, and the Indianapolis Colts, with all their injuries, are no longer part of the NFL playoff landscape. Looking back, each was probably fortunate to get an extra game this season. Indianapolis’ problems were evident all season.

A team which lives and dies with its offense lacked a running game most of the season, and wasn’t effective moving the ball on the ground against a very good Jets defense on Saturday night. And with fewer options available due to the absence of receivers Dallas Clark and Austin Collie, New York took Reggie Wayne out of the game (1 catch for 1 yard).

For once the passing of Peyton Manning was not enough. Last year’s Super Bowl losers lasted only 60 post-season minutes at home against a Jets team that had done its share of bumbling and stumbling down the stretch this season. Manning wasn’t awful (18 for 26, 219 yards, 1 TD pass and a 108.6 QB rating), but neither was he spectacular. He remains a threat to throw a TD on every play from scrimmage, but you wonder if the bloom is off the rose and whether opponents will view him the same way as they have.

In Baltimore, the Ravens showed the Chiefs that winning a weakened AFC West with a 10-6 record is one thing, and beating a quality team like Baltimore in the playoffs is quite another. Fingers will be pointed at quarterback Matt Cassel and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis -- and rightly so. KC payed a price for Cassel’s indecisiveness, and Weis’s announced departure to the University of Florida raised concerns that his mind was on his next job rather than the current one.

But while the Chiefs lament their ineffective offense (Cassel threw three picks and KC fumbled twice), they also have to make some major changes to their defense. Sitting back in zone coverage doesn’t work against veteran receivers and a better-than-average quarterback.