Here's why Flacco shines in the postseason: 1. People are actually watching. Sure, we play prime time games during the regular season, but those are usually against Pittsburgh or other top defenses that are very familiar with our offense. We also tend to play our very stupid "run first offense", (more on that below), and it doesn't result in a very gaudy outing. Most people miss most of our regular season and only look at Joe's stats (aka the offense as a whole's stats), which are below average. 2. "Underdog" offense. For most of the last 5 years, we've tried to run the ball first, unsuccessfully. When the Ravens know they need to score points, they trust the passing game. Actually getting to take snaps from the shotgun, throwing on first down and putting more receivers on the field gives Joe a chance to succeed. Most QBs with great stats are in this kind of system all year round. 3. The offensive turnover at receiver and coaching staff is always high, and the playoffs are usually when Joe's actually had a year's time to work with most of his weapons. Joe's passer rating has historically gone up as the season progresses. 4. Joe learns quickly. When he does dumb things, he cuts them out by the next game. For example, he hasn't fumbled since Pittsburgh and hasn't thrown a non-desperation INT since the ugly one in SF. After 16 games, he's had plenty to learn before the clock resets and everyone leaves. So there you have it. It's not some weird January mystery.
