Grading Flacco's Performance

[JohnJohnson]

Ah, you're all nutty. I'm not concerned about Flacco, he'll be fine. Stop looking at everything under a microscope and start looking at his general progression. Name me a QB who came in and pleased everyone from day one.

[the color urple]

I think his brain just overloaded on that first hit. He saw the first guy coming in, and I think he turned his head so he could start rolling out, and BOOM!... there's the second guy.

They shook the rust out. They'll take care of Cinci next week.

[flynismo]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1284491912' post='476931']<br />Lombardi of Ravens 24x7 summed it up pretty well.<br /><br />&quot;Joe Flacco looked like a deer in headlights...&quot;<br /><br />He improved in the second half but some of his throws and the late releases made him look like a rookie.[/quote]


Yeah, that is exactly what has concerned me as well, like I said elsewhere..he was rattled the entire first half, and at times in the second half as well. But it's all good, the bottom line is, he made the plays we needed him to...

[flynismo]

[quote name='JohnJohnson' timestamp='1284492095' post='476935']<br />Ah, you're all nutty. I'm not concerned about Flacco, he'll be fine. Stop looking at everything under a microscope and start looking at his general progression. Name me a QB who came in and pleased everyone from day one.<br />[/quote]


haha, I wouldn't say nutty...we just have high expectations of him!

[heapitup247]

I dont really want to play monday (tuesday) morning QB. Obviously Flacco knows he should have hit mcclain for the td, but other than that I hate judging a QB based on one game, and especially specific plays.

[ellicottraven]

Frankly I expected Joe Flacco to struggle against the Jets blitz packages. However I must say that as the game wore on, his pocket presence seemed to improve and he was able to deliver under pressure. With just half a field to operate in, to throw for 248 yards and an unfortunate impression was actually impressive. I would actually venture to say that Joe is going to improve and build upon this performance moving forward. Therefore I would actually give him an A- for guts and a B+ for performance.

[berad]

[quote name='ellicottraven' timestamp='1284492480' post='476950']
Frankly I expected Joe Flacco to struggle against the Jets blitz packages. However I must say that as the game wore on, his pocket presence seemed to improve and he was able to deliver under pressure. With just half a field to operate in, to throw for 248 yards and an unfortunate impression was actually impressive. I would actually venture to say that Joe is going to improve and build upon this performance moving forward. Therefore I would actually give him an A- for guts and a B+ for performance.
[/quote]

I agree with this. People say he looked "like a deer in headlights", the must have only seen his first snap. Joe stood tall in the pocket and made throws all over the field at any distance. He would have had a touchdown, too, if Heap had held onto that ball. Maybe even two if he made a better throw to McClain. Going against last years top-ranking overall and passing defense, he did a good job.

[PuRock]

[quote name='berad' timestamp='1284492903' post='476961']
I agree with this. People say he looked "like a deer in headlights", the must have only seen his first snap. Joe stood tall in the pocket and made throws all over the field at any distance. He would have had a touchdown, too, if Heap had held onto that ball. Maybe even two if he made a better throw to McClain. Going against last years top-ranking overall and passing defense, he did a good job.
[/quote]

I agree about the deer in Headlights. I thought the only time we could say that is the first play. But even after a monster hit like that, Joe was out there looking pretty cool. He wasn't scared to air it out still and he was still making big time plays.

The same can't be said for Sanchez. He looked like a deer in headlights during that whole last drive, he was just so unsure of himself. He wouldn't even attempt to make a real throw.

[Gtown Purple]

I'll give Joe a low B for last nights performance. He did struggle early with the fumble and missed throws but made up for it with some plays in crunch time. His back shoulder throws to Q and TJ were great and he had 4 completions of 27 yards or more with 2 of them coming back to back. When was the last time a raven qb did those things? The overthrow of mcclain is not acceptable but didn't cost us although the one to Heap would have made the game much easier. I give Joe extra credit for doing what he did against a very good defense, probably one of the toughest he'll face all year and he nearly put up 250 on them. Considering the Jets gave up an average of about 150 passing yards per game last year I'd say that's pretty darn good. Joe's got improvements to make but I don't think the Joe of last year does quite as much given the same set of circumstances. Keep in mind this is only week 1 and Joe showed imporvment throughout last season, lets hope he does the same this year.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='JohnJohnson' timestamp='1284491120' post='476911']
Not true, Rivers lofted a pass way over a receiver's head, he was wide open in the end zone. He tried to jump for the ball, but it was waaaaay too high. A little touch on that ball and the game was going to OT.
[/quote]
You are 100% correct.....there were two others where the receiver slipped. Forgot about that one....good, I hate defending Rivers

[I AM LEGEND]

Even I don't agree with the deer in the headlights last night...and that's been my concern of Flacco in his first 2 years..Deer in the headlights is the look Flacco seems to have everytime he plays the Steelers D..Deer in the headlights is last years packers and colt playoff game

Last night Joe looked very capable and in tune

And now I wanna bring his grade bqck up to a B...since I was overlooking the fact he couldn't test one side of the field all game because of Revis..so he passed well with only parts of the field at his disposal

[MJSMOOTH]

C+ not great but good enough to win. Flacco is a game manager and is learning to take control, better learn quick cause Ray Ray is not getting any younger anytime soon and after Ray is gone Flacco will be the one ppl will be counting on to make the game changing throws like Ray makes the game changing hits

[SuRihtanil]

Well that first hit on him when he fumbled had me unnerved... I was like NOOOOOO what the heck, but then he came back and did really well. Mostly defense win games early in the season, but to play a great defense and to do what he did I give him Kudos. It wasn't the best ever, but it was good enough and I was happy with the way Flacco played.

[MagicianCamille]

C. Average performance. Made some mistakes. Made some decent throws but his receivers really made the extra effort to reconcile some of them which could have gotten away easily. He missed some fantastic opportunities for sure.

I understand he had the #1 defense barreling down on him almost every play, but I still expected him to be a bit less shaky considering we're in his third year now.

[margeta2005]

here you go guys, just to see how other qbs fared against the jets D last season:

M. Schaub 18/33 166yds 0 1 55.9
T. Brady 23/47 216yds 0 1 53.1
K. Collins 15/37 170yds 1 2 41.5
D. Brees 20/32 190yds 0 0 78.9
C. Henne 20/26 241yds 2 0 130.4
R. Fitzpatrick 10/25 116yds 1 1 51.4
B. Gradkowski 10/19 97yds 0 0 67.2
J. Russell 6/11 61yds 0 2 31.1
C. Henne 12/21 112yds 1 0 87.8
D. Garrard 16/26 221yds 1 0 101.6
T. Brady 28/41 [b]310yds[/b] 1 0 98.6
J. Delhomme 14/34 130yds 0 4 12.7
R. Fitzpatrick 9/23 98yds 0 1 34.3
J. Freeman 14/33 93yds 0 3 12.1
M. Ryan 16/34 152yds 1 0 69.7
P. Manning 14/21 192yds 0 0 95.7
C. Painter 4/11 44yds 0 1 11.2
J. O'Sullivan 3/8 31yds 0 0 49.5
C. Palmer 1/11 0yds 0 1 1.7


sorry for the chaotic outlook of the stats, but im sure youll be able to read them.. so to answer the question of an earlier poster - only brady threw for more yards than flacco against the jets

im sure we have something great in the making guys.. now lets go beat those bengals pls..

and almost forgot to rate flacco: B-

[ooo sugahhh 52]

B+ not quite an A because of that first play but i was most impressed with how poised he was afterward and how he continued to play well in spite of the turnovers. he just continued to stand in there and spread the ball around. i know he threw an int but it looked like he was goin to heap and boldin ran the wrong route. i cant say that he straight up won the game but he was certainly a huge part of it. he is still progressing and isnt quite there yet but it seems to be going very well

[flynismo]

Very nice list you compiled..that certainly sheds more light on exactly what Flacco was up against.

[reediddy]

I give him a B. This is the #1 defense from football last year and Flacco tore them up for about 100 yards more than they average. I liked his poise in the pocket facing such a ferocious pass rush, especially on the completion to Housh, where he waited just enough to get the perfect throw off, even though the pressure was bearing down on him. Contrary to other posters on this topic I think his deep ball had precision. The completions to Boldin on our game-winning drive were put in exactly the right position for Boldin to make a play, as was the pass to Heap which he dove for. Still, Flacco has to make better decisions on quick passes when there is no WR open; maybe throw the ball out of bounds and avoid a turnover. He will definitely grow from this game. BTW our defense is back!!!!

[scrock]

I thought Flacco played some of his worst football since becoming a pro. A lot of that had to do with having new targets he has to get used to and the defense he was facing. Rex's defense can make even the best QBs look bad at times. Flacco showed he is a gamer, he hung in there and made the big plays when he needed to. He did have some plays where he was nowhere close to the receiver which I've never seen him do much of.

We won the game and this is really another step in the growing process for Flacco and the team. This win is a huge way to start the season, I hope we can keep it going next week!!

Oh and one more thing he needs to work out, when you have to get the ball out quick, just throw it away if nothing is there, don't hold onto it forever waiting for something to develop.

[jaege]

I can go with a B. He did throw a number longer passes, which I wanted to see. I was concerned with that first fumble, but he did bounce back. There was only the one interception so overall he did well, so long as he shows improvement in the next couple of games. The thing that frustrated me was his holding the ball. That thing should be gone before the count of two. Toss it into the lights if he has to, but get rid of it. An incomplete is way better than a sack.

[ellicottraven]

[i]<don't copy and paste the same thing two hours later, it's considered spam>[/i]

[GTRavens]

Instead of handing out a letter grade, I'll be handing about poditives and negatives. Since I'm a save the best for last kind of guy, I'll get through the negatives first.

- Brain farts. Every now and then Flacco is extremely desperate to make a play (hence holding on to the ball too long sometimes) and he does something stupid. The fumble, yeah, I guess that would qualify. But the play that no one's talking about was when Flacco was getting sacked and basically threw a shovel pass to Jason Taylor. He dropped it, but that's a big no-no. Take the sack.

- Accuracy. You'll see me mention this in the positives as well, but once again we saw some rust that took some time for him to shake off. He relied a bit too much on Boldin at times and made some less than perfect throws. But overall, I think people expect too much out of a QB's accuracy and expect on target throws every time

- The interception, but not for the reason you think. It's clear to me that building chemistry takes time, and Flacco didn't have it with Boldin on that play. There was miscommunication. If Boldin and Cromartie didn't get in the way, that could very well have been a touchdown.

+ Clutch. In this case, on third downs. The dude delivered time and time again, usually on 3rd and long. He always seems to step up under regular season pressure. I was extremely impressed.

+ Spreading the ball around. Captain checkdown no more. He avoided Revis Island like the plague and seemed to develop a strong connection with all of his main targets. A big step forward.

+ Confidence. He was fearless and perfectly willing to take risks and zip the ball downfield. He displayed leadership and the team responded well, because he was pretty much moving the ball at will.

+ Accuracy. The receivers didn't get wide open that often, but Flacco did a tremendous job of putting the ball in a place where only they could catch it. This happened with all of the deep balls (including the interception, just read what i said before) and every strike to Boldin the defender couldn't do anything (don't rag on the corners too much because it's very difficult to defend).

+ Athleticism? Did he just chase down Antonio Cromartie? Holy crap.

The numbers were pedestrian. The peformance was imperfect. But I got some really good vibes from that performance. He didn't succumb to the pressure of playing a big game on the road against the Jets defense. He responded very well to it and that's the kind of leadership we'll need this season if we want to win the Super Bowl.

[dpatrickguy]

i think Flacco did okay, but still needs to improve obviously. I think that this game will give Zorn some solid stuff to work on though with Joe and improve.

[McBoller]

[quote name='Ed_Reed20' timestamp='1284489380' post='476873']
Q was actually the WR in the area. Ron Jaworski suggested Q should have ran a post route but ran a deep out allowing Cromartie to break on the ball that looked intended for Heap in my opinion.
[/quote]
I saw the exact same thing when it happened. It was obvious he was throwing to what would have been a wide open Heap, but instead of drawing the DB away from Heap, Boldin brought him right to the ball. There's no way that play was designed to have two receivers in the exact same area.

[Jabara]

The INT Flacco threw to Boldin was in my opinion, pretty much Boldin's fault for not stepping up and coming to the ball, he clearly waited for it, and that is very uncharacteristic of Boldin.
Heap missed a TD pass that is also uncharacteristic of Heap.
After that huge hit Flacco took he looked pretty out of it, and I hope he's ok.
One thing I will say about Flacco is that when he throws a deep ball it looks effortless.
I think one of the reasons Flacco holds onto the ball is because he's very intelligent.
Let me explain.
He's got to make a lot of reads and is aware enough to know what exactly is going on, not many QB's can do that even though it's something they all need to do. If he can make quicker reads, because he clearly makes intelligent reads, he'll be great. And one way for him to learn how to do that, is to learn from taking that monster hit he took on the first play of the game.

[flynismo]

[quote name='Jabara' timestamp='1284503292' post='477161']<br />The INT Flacco threw to Boldin was in my opinion, pretty much Boldin's fault for not stepping and and coming to the ball, he clearly waited for it, and that is very uncharacteristic of Boldin. <br />Heap missed a TD pass that is also uncharacteristic of Heap. <br />After that huge hit Flacco took he looked pretty out of it, and I hope he's ok. <br />One thing I will say about Flacco is that when he throws a deep ball it looks effortless. <br />I think one of the reasons Flacco holds onto the ball is because he's very intelligent. <br />Let me explain. <br />He's got to make a lot of reads and is aware enough to know what exactly is going on, not many QB's can do that even though it's something they all need to do. If he can make quicker reads, because he clearly makes intelligent reads, he'll be great. And one way for him to learn how to do that, is to learn from taking that monster hit he took on the first play of the game.<br />[/quote]


very well said.

[Ravenmore74]

His performance was above avg because of the situation we had him in.
Game 1 of the season against a number 1 defense.

[hammer]

I gave Flacco an A. Obviously I could "nitpic," but if he plays at this level against the rest of the league, the Ravens are going to be hard to beat.

Also, you have to consider that some of those pass interference penalties would have been completions had the fouls not occured.

[JaxFlaccoFan]

Flacco wasn't perfect and missed a few throws like the one to McLain, but generally I was really pleased with his performance. After he took that viscious hit to start the game, a lot of QBs would have been completely shaken up and would have been in panic mode. Yeah, he probably should have got rid of it a little quicker, but both the Jets that crushed him got there in a hurry. Because they both arrived from each side of him at the same time, he couldn't slide one way or the other to avoid the pressure and buy a fraction of a second more time to get rid of the ball. To come back after that hit and complete 6 of his next 7 passes (all very accurate passes) showed a lot of guts and was a defining moment for me. In fact, he would have been 7 for 7 if Heap had caught a perfectly thrown ball for a TD. That would have been a huge 7 points in a game like that. That pass may have been the best pass I've seen him throw. It was perfect.

Regarding the interception, I agree with another poster. Someone ran the wrong route. I'm sure that play wasn't designed to have two Raven receivers at the same spot in the corner. I believe Boldin ran the wrong route, which caused two other Jets to follow Boldin to the corner. As a result, there ended up being three Jets there. I think there is a good chance that Flacco released that ball thinking Heap had one on one coverage and could go up and make a play, and probably didn't even realize Boldin had made his cut to the same area drawing two more defenders. There are a lot of things we as fans don't see and we wonder who in the heck the QB is throwing to when in fact sometimes it's because a receiver made a wrong cut.

The one thing that impressed me the most though was his third down conversions. Even the announcers mentioned that they have never seen so many third and long conversions against the Jets blitzing defense (over 50 percent while the Jets only converted like 1 out of 13). These conversions were critical because it allowed the Ravens to win the time of possession by a large margin, thus keeping the ball away from the Jets offense. It also helped change the field position which was critical even if a long sustained drive ended up with no points (the one drive at the end of the first quarter resulted in no points but it ate about 8 minutes off the clock, and finally this gave the Ravens defense a lot of rest during the game which allowed them to be even more impressive than they might otherwise have been. In essence, I think you can credit Flacco's performance for greatly aiding the defense's performance. There is more to his performance than just yardage against probably one of the top two defenses in the league.

[D_UP]

I was impressed he didn't look shellshocked. He bounced back from the negative plays, and made some huge throws under pressure.