Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh believes playing on Monday night last week affected his side's performances on Sunday against the New England Patriots.

The Ravens were hammered 41-7 by the Patriots at M & T Bank Stadium, as the home side's offense struggled to get going under injury-hampered quarterback Joe Flacco.

"It did, we felt it," Harbaugh told the Baltimore Sun. "We fought through it all week as best we could. Our guys were excited to play, and I thought the effort was there.

"They fought like crazy, but we just didn't have enough juice to pull it off. It's a legitimate factor. Everybody has scheduling issues that they've got to deal with in the NFL, and that was one of ours."

Harbaugh's side can still reach the playoffs with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.