Columnists

The good news this time of year is that there is no bad news about Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.

This year is the 20th anniversary of John Waters' "Serial Mom," starring Kathleen Turner as Beverly Sutphin, a sweet but homicidal housewife in suburban Baltimore. She's married to a dentist (Sam Waterston), and they have a couple of teenage children (the daughter played by Ricki Lake). Life is...

Larry Hogan's 5-point defeat of Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown last week in the Maryland governor's race was overshadowed by national electoral developments, notably the Republicans' recapture of the U.S. Senate majority they lost in 2006. But what a win.

Maybe when the bye week is over and the Ravens are headed to New Orleans for a Monday night game against the Saints, another Joe Flacco will emerge.

The only accomplishment for the Ravens on Sunday was that they avoided disaster.

Republicans can declare the results of the midterm elections a complete repudiation of President Obama and every last Democrat from here to Anchorage, but they shouldn't get too excited. Obama's approval rating might have sagged to 44 percent, but the rating for Congress is less than half that.

As the Ravens' 2014 season progresses, it is beginning to look more like 2013.

As expected, other parts of the country had most of the fun on Election Day 2014. In Maryland, the biggest race was for governor, and I wouldn't exactly call it fun.

Admittedly, it was tough to watch the Ravens get undressed on national television Sunday night, but that ugly loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers — much of it self-administered — was not a symptom of some irreparable flaw in the team or the organization.

This is about football and life lessons and sportsmanship, stemming from two very different incidents in two games — one that might have made you grimace, one that might have made you cry. I'll start with the grimace.