INDIANAPOLIS — Growing pains or signs of bigger issues?

The Indianapolis Colts must assess the manner in which their season ended as they head into the offseason.

Indianapolis stumbled to an embarrassing 45-7 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday night.

The Colts made some progress this season, advancing to the AFC title game, winning a second straight AFC South crown and posting a third straight 11-5 regular-season record.

However, their season ended at Gillette Stadium for the second consecutive year. It was also the fourth straight one-sided loss to the Patriots since the start of the 2012 season.

“It’s obviously a very disappointing loss,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. “We ran into an outstanding football team that played extremely well in all three phases. They got us really early on. They kind of had us on our heels (with their) tempo. (In) situational football, they played well, we didn’t.

“Third down, red zone, we had issues stopping the run. We did not do that. We couldn’t get off the field on third down.”

Pagano and his coaching staff tried to make some adjustments at halftime, but the Patriots proved to be too tough.

“I felt like we got things kind of calmed down and then they exploded for a bunch of points and we had no answers on offense in the third quarter, so it’s obviously a very disappointing loss,” the coach said. “Nobody wants to end their season that way, but like I told the team, we’ll learn from this, we’ll grow from this and go to work to try to make 2015 better than 2014.”

Pagano believes the team improved over the course of the season.

“We took another step forward,” he said. “I’m very, very proud of the coaches and very proud of the players. They took another step in the right direction, and I don’t think anyone ever envisioned us getting to this point. So I’m very proud of the guys for what they accomplished this season and the things that they overcame.”

As for the postseason finale …

“It’s hard because it is the last game and you don’t have another Sunday to look forward to, to go back to work and prepare and get that taste out of your mouth,” Pagano said. “We will try to learn from it. We have to learn from it. We have to grow and find some answers, obviously.

“We’re well aware of the fact that we need to go to work and find some answers to get over the hump to take that next step, to reach our ultimate goal to try to find a way to win a football game like this.”

REPORT CARD VS. PATRIOTS

–PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus — QB Andrew Luck completed just 12 of 33 passes for 126 yards and had two passes intercepted. Luck ended the game with a dismal 23.0 passer rating. TEs Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener had four and three catches, respectively. New England did a great job of playing tight coverage on the Colts’ outside receivers.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: D — RB Daniel “Boom” Herron rushed for 51 yards on 10 carries. Rookie RB Zurlon Tipton had 14 yards on five carries and scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter. Luck added 18 yards on four carries. After falling far behind in the third quarter, Indianapolis basically quit trying to run the football and relied solely on the passing game.

–PASS DEFENSE: C-minus — QB Tom Brady never really got pressured all night, completing 23 of 35 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked once and intercepted once. WR Julian Edelman had nine catches for 98 yards. The Colts did do a pretty good job on TE Rob Gronkowski for the most part, limiting him to three catches for 28 yards and a touchdown. ILB D’Qwell Jackson had an interception on a pass thrown down the middle to Gronkowski.

–RUSH DEFENSE: F — Different day, same story. RB LeGarrette Blount was a workhorse for the Patriots once again. Blount makes a living playing against the Colts. He rushed for a game-high 148 yards on 30 carries and scored three touchdowns. As a team, New England had 177 rushing yards.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus — K Adam Vinatieri missed his only field-goal attempt, going wide right on a 51-yard attempt. P Pat McAfee averaged 35.4 yards net and 49.6 yards overall on five punts. He did not have a punt downed inside the Patriots’ 20-yard line. McAfee also did not have a touchback on a kickoff. PR Josh Cribbs fumbled his first punt-return attempt, which was recovered by New England. Cribbs had three kickoff returns for 75 yards. The Colts allowed Edelman a 23.7-yard average on three punt returns, including a return of 45 yards.

–COACHING: C-minus — So what is the problem? How can Indianapolis play so well against Cincinnati and Denver but struggle so mightily just about every time it plays New England? That is what the Colts’ coaching staff must try to figure out during the offseason. Did New England outcoach the Colts, as some believe? Was Indianapolis simply not ready for the Patriots? Both answers are no. But Chuck Pagano, along with his coaching staff, has a lot to think about during the offseason.