Merged: Why Flacco Is Our Franchise Qb

[flynismo]

This discussion isn't meant to nit-pick at how Flacco could improve in one area or another. He does need to improve in some aspects, that is not in question; to say otherwise would be foolishness of epic proportions. Every QB in the history of the league has/had flaws, so let's move on.

The aim of this discussion is to emphasize why Flacco is and should be the source of great hope and excitement for this fan base, not the source of idiotic arguments.

So let's get this out of the way, once and for all.

Let's start with 2008, his rookie season.

Drafted 18th overall out of the lowly Delaware system, Flacco was viewed as somewhat of a project. He was expected to need considerable time to adjust to the NFL level by many experts.

How wrong they were.

Flacco had one of the greatest seasons by a rookie QB in league history, falling 29 yards short of becoming only the third rookie to pass for 3,000 yards, as well as becoming the first rookie QB in league history to win two playoff games.
The foundation was set, and Baltimore knew they had something special in their hands. After all, this was a kid just out of some no name college who wasn't even supposed to start as a rookie, much less set NFL records.

Fast forward to 2009.

After showing tremendous promise during his rookie campaign, Flacco gave even more reason for hope during his sophomore campaign.
I won't delve in too many statistics, for the sake of brevity, so I will just summarize his second year in the NFL:

9 games with a QB rating of 95 or higher.
5 games with a QB rating of 109 or higher.
6 multiple TD games.
only 3 times did he throw multiple interceptions.

Season totals of 3,613 yards (63.1% completion rate), 21 TDs and 12 INTs and a QB rating of 88.9 for the season.

Those are numbers that merit Pro Bowl consideration. The fact that he did it in his second year is very impressive. The fact that he did it in his second year after coming out of Delaware is even more impressive. The fact that he did it with no serious recieving weapons other than an undersized 35 year old possession reciever and a RB (!) is astounding.

Clearly, Flacco is on his way...

Now fast forward to the 2010 season.

In the early stages of his third season, Flacco has faced the most brutal schedule of any QB in the league. In the first 5 weeks, he has been asked to win against three of the top five defenses from last year, and win against the best passing offense in the league.

How did that work out? Well, let's see...

His 248 yards verse the Jets were more than any QB not named Tom Brady in over a year. In a game where the running backs were stuffed play after play, Flacco leading the passing game was the only source of offensive production the entire game, and helped set up McGahee's game winning TD.

In week three against the Browns, he and Boldin put on a show that resulted in a career high 3 TD passes to Boldin.

Flacco's week four heroics in Pittsburgh is well documented, completing 65% of his passes for 256 yards, including the game winning TD.

His first half domination in week five led to Baltimore jumping out to a 17-0 lead, and allowing us to cruise to an easy win.

Can we complain about his week 2 performance in Cincy? Or his poor mechanics? Sure we can. And as fans, we should.

But to say that he is not this team's franchise quarterback is to not look at where Flacco has been, where he is, or where he is headed. And it is clear to see where he is headed, you dont have to look very hard.

If you're a Flacco hater, please, post it here. Explain to me why Flacco is not or should not be leading this team. I need a good laugh

[SnOoPy]

[Romo Ravens]

To quote the great John Clayton, Flacco is an elite QB.

There, I said it.

I'm so glad that we have him here. I'm waiting patiently for him to shake off the inconsistencies, and once he does, Flacco haters stand up... We have ourselves a stud.

[kagejb]

Damn, you just dissed Delaware about four or five times in that post. Franchise isn't gonna let that go.

[Terrellb2007]

I AM ALL THE WAY A FLACCO FAN. I just wouldn't even put poor mechanics and performance in Cincy because it was on the Offense overall. O-Line, dropped passes by receivers and some mistakes he may have wanted to take back. Coming in to this season people were saying we would be lucky if we come out 2-2 and thought we would only beat the Browns so we would come out 1-3. NOW LOOK AT US 4-1 baby.

[flynismo]

[quote name='kagejb' timestamp='1287172161' post='508225']<br />Damn, you just dissed Delaware about four or five times in that post. Franchise isn't gonna let that go. <img src='http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /><br />[/quote]

oh I know, that's why I'm logging off the site for the rest of the night

[flynismo]

[quote name='Romo Ravens' timestamp='1287171884' post='508224']<br />To quote the great John Clayton, Flacco is an elite QB. <br /><br />There, I said it. <br /><br />I'm so glad that we have him here. I'm waiting patiently for him to shake off the inconsistencies, and once he does, Flacco haters stand up... We have ourselves a stud.<br />[/quote]

calling him elite is a stretch at this point...he has done great so far throughout his career, but to be elite is to dominate over and over again. You expect an elite quarterback to dominate regardless of the defense (no one would be surprised to see peyton shred Pitts, but despite his great game earlier, I am still wary about Joe's rematch later this year), and I think very few people have that kind of confidence in Flacco yet.
Just saying, it takes time to be elite, its not a word to toss about lightly...but by the end of this season, I have this feeling that Flacco may start generating that kind of buzz.

[1/28/01]

IAL in 3-2-1......

[Jamal]

Flacco is a good QB. Hopefully he can become a great QB.

But as of right now, he is the closest thing to a franchise QB, that we've seen.

[flynismo]

Haha, I will go ahead and summarize IAL's comments and spare him the trouble....Trent Dilfer won a super bowl. Ed Reed is hurting our team. Flacco had a bad game on the road against Cincy. I have seen no reason to believe that Flacco should be our franchise QB. I like to see if I can go knuckle deep in my nostrils.

[Polamaluisabeast_43]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1287173047' post='508239']
calling him elite is a stretch at this point...he has done great so far throughout his career, but to be elite is to dominate over and over again. You expect an elite quarterback to dominate regardless of the defense (no one would be surprised to see peyton shred Pitts, but despite his great game earlier, I am still wary about Joe's rematch later this year), and I think very few people have that kind of confidence in Flacco yet.
Just saying, it takes time to be elite, its not a word to toss about lightly...but by the end of this season, I have this feeling that Flacco may start generating that kind of buzz.
[/quote]
While Flacco has done a nice job since coming into the league in 2008 and has a playoff record of 3-2 the 3 wins the Ravens have had in the playoffs the last 2 years over Miami,Tennessee,and New England had little to do with how Joe Flacco played in those games and a lot to do with their running game and excellent defense. The games he lost to the Steelers in 2008 and the Colts in 2009 he didnot show up and play well at all in either game. So until Flacco steps his game up in the playoffs and becomes the main reason why the Ravens knock off somebody like the Steelers or the Colts in the playoffs you cannot consider him elite. He took a huge step forward by doing what he did against the Steelers in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, but there is a big difference in winning a game with your arm in October 4 games into the season then there is winning a game in January an advancing your team deep into the playoffs and potentially the Super Bowl...Flacco is going to get many more chances this year to prove he is elite so we will see if he can continue to answer the bell much like he did against the Steelers a few weeks back...

[XxSizzleXx]

Joe Flaccow!

[reediddy]

the unibrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

[I AM LEGEND]

Joe Flacco has been a up and down qb and a good game manager....

He has had the Fortune of qb'ing a team with a top tier defense for his first 3 years....











yep


Thats about it....

[kagejb]

[quote name='I AM LEGEND' timestamp='1287176434' post='508289']
Joe Flacco has been a up and down qb and a good game manager....

He has had the Fortune of qb'ing a team with a top tier defense for his first 3 years....











yep


Thats about it....
[/quote]

Our defense gets gashed up by Peyton Hillis. Our running game wasn't consistent. Trent Dilfer wouldn't have won that game. Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes against an above average Cleveland secondary.

That's not game managing. That's controlling the game.

[PlayLikeAFan]

I agree that Flacco will be our QB for several years to come. All QB's have a bad game every once in a while, and Flacco's bad game happened to be against the Bengals which we seem to struggle against every year anways. I'm glad we have Flacco since now we don't have to risk getting another Kyle Boller in the draft, falling over himself in the backfield and throwing wide open picks. I'm happy with having flacco as our guy.

[bauer77]

I grew up with the QBs that well for lack of a better word, sucked. Boller, Grbac, Banks, Case, Harbaugh, Redman, etc etc etc. Flacco is the best QB we've had here. He is our franchise QB and will be for a long time.

[True]

I don't want to come off as snobbish so don't take it the wrong way, but isn't this an obvious statement? It's not like there is a QB controversy as with the Eagles with Kolb/Vick. Or like Alex Smith who has failed to live up to expectations after being drafted #1 overall. Flacco came in to an already highly talent team, has everything built around him and now comes the task to manage and deliver when QB play is most important.

Unless he gets hurts or really starts to show decline in the upcoming few weeks, I don't see that status changing. I understand there are detractors who want Flacco to be a perfect Peyton Manning type player, but he's not that guy. Honestly, if I was to say what you would consider the least strongest part of the Ravens, you could put it on the QB, but that's fine. You don't need a HOF QB to win a SB as long as your team is complete in every other way. It didn't help the Dolphins when they had Dan Marino since he had an incomplete team.

As long as the Ravens are a complete team, I don't see Joe Flacco losing his franchise QB status anytime soon.

[flynismo]

[quote name='True' timestamp='1287179760' post='508328']<br />I don't want to come off as snobbish so don't take it the wrong way, but isn't this an obvious statement? It's not like there is a QB controversy as with the Eagles with Kolb/Vick. Or like Alex Smith who has failed to live up to expectations after being drafted #1 overall. Flacco came in to an already highly talent team, has everything built around him and now comes the task to manage and deliver when QB play is most important. <br /><br />Unless he gets hurts or really starts to show decline in the upcoming few weeks, I don't see that status changing. I understand there are detractors who want Flacco to be a perfect Peyton Manning type player, but he's not that guy. Honestly, if I was to say what you would consider the least strongest part of the Ravens, you could put it on the QB, but that's fine. You don't need a HOF QB to win a SB as long as your team is complete in every other way. It didn't help the Dolphins when they had Dan Marino since he had an incomplete team. <br /><br />As long as the Ravens are a complete team, I don't see Joe Flacco losing his franchise QB status anytime soon.<br />[/quote]


You'd THINK this should be obvious....

[Jorgen]

This should be obvious, but not too long ago there were a couple of people yelling for Bulger to take over. Everyone gets bad games, but Joe bounced back, and in every game since then, he's not just been managing the game and not making mistakes all Dilfer-like; he's been setting the tempo and winning games for us.

Elite QB? No. But he's surely going to be the best QB we've ever had in Baltimore up to this point, if he isn't already.

The main beef I have with him, though, is how he can just stare down his receivers for what seems to be hours on end. But I have to give him props for knowing how to avoid sacks.

[johnny86]

Here's a few interesting things to think about with Joe Flacco:

With 147 yards this week against new england, he'll be our franchise's all time leader in passing yards, and when he eventually gets 12 more touchdown passes, he'll be the franchise leader in TD's as well....in just his 3rd year he'll already hold perhaps the two most important stats at the position, if that doesnt convince the non-believers, i dont know what will.

[flynismo]

[quote name='Jorgen' timestamp='1287190688' post='508432']<br />This should be obvious, but not too long ago there were a couple of people yelling for Bulger to take over. Everyone gets bad games, but Joe bounced back, and in every game since then, he's not just been managing the game and not making mistakes all Dilfer-like; he's been setting the tempo and winning games for us.<br /><br />Elite QB? No. But he's surely going to be the best QB we've ever had in Baltimore up to this point, if he isn't already.<br /><br />The main beef I have with him, though, is how he can just stare down his receivers for what seems to be hours on end. But I have to give him props for knowing how to avoid sacks.<br />[/quote]

its not just people here who bash flacco, its all over the place.
For example, over on the new england boards, while a lot of them think they'll lose the game, very few of them have any respect at all for flacco.

[Ed_Reed20]

[quote name='johnny86' timestamp='1287191294' post='508434']
Here's a few interesting things to think about with Joe Flacco:

With 147 yards this week against new england, he'll be our franchise's all time leader in passing yards, and when he eventually gets 12 more touchdown passes, he'll be the franchise leader in TD's as well....in just his 3rd year he'll already hold perhaps the two most important stats at the position, if that doesnt convince the non-believers, i dont know what will.
[/quote]

I believe in Joe but this team hasn't had a single quality QB for more than 3 seasons in it's history.

[flaccopoe]

I wouldn't call him an elite as of yet, but I definitely think he could acquire Brees status in a couple seasons from now. Flacco learns from his mistakes: he studied his shaky performances against the Jets and Bengals to sail smoothly against his next 3 games against some good opponents. The future for our QB and offense in general looks good!

[BloodRaven]

[quote name='johnny86' timestamp='1287191294' post='508434']
Here's a few interesting things to think about with Joe Flacco:

With 147 yards this week against new england, he'll be our franchise's all time leader in passing yards, and when he eventually gets 12 more touchdown passes, he'll be the franchise leader in TD's as well....in just his 3rd year he'll already hold perhaps the two most important stats at the position, if that doesnt convince the non-believers, i dont know what will.
[/quote]

Better than Boller AND Elvis Grbac?! WOW.

Seriously though, the discussion is pointless. Flacco is out QB and our season is in his hands.

[theFRANCHISE]

[quote name='kagejb' timestamp='1287172161' post='508225']
Damn, you just dissed Delaware about four or five times in that post. Franchise isn't gonna let that go.
[/quote]
I saw the first diss and went: [img]http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/public/style_emoticons/default/34853_blobfire.GIF[/img]

Why must my school always be the whipping boy in the argument for/against Flacco? We didn't do anything to hurt anyone! [img]http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/public/style_emoticons/default/34853_shakehead.GIF[/img]

[Ravenslifer]

To me, Flacco really only had one poor performance, against the Bengals. In the game agaisnt the jets, he had to fling the ball around the whole game because the Jets stuffed the run, so of course there was a good chance he would have been picked off. Last week, he did fine until the second half, when scoring through the air was basically taken out of the game, and we were only passing to change things up, because everyone knew that with a big lead we were going to run the ball down the Bronco's throats. He made the big touchdown pass against the Steelers, something I don't think he could have done a year ago. And the fact that he's been sacked fewer than anyone but Manning, after playing three of the top defenses in the NFL, is very impressive. But the bottom line is, Flacco gives us the best chance to win, not Marc Bulger, and definitely not Troy Smith. Our front office wants Joe to succeed, but they want the team to succeed more. If Joe is the starter, it means they feel he's the best person to lead this team, and they're the ones that watch all of our quarterbacks in practice everyday. More importantly, we're 4-1 after playing the toughest stretch in our entire schedule. Lets hold off judgement on Flacco until the end of the season.

[ravenanchors]

First off let me say that I don't blame Joe or the players for the Cincinatti game, the Offense played well before the Cin game and after. The problem was in the game plan and play calling. First off the run game was working and Cam abandoned it so he could show off his new receivers as if he was saying my receivers are better than your receivers. As Housh told Cam, Cin has the best tandem CB in the league. Whenever Cam starts feeling arrogant he makes bad calls like this. (Ngata as a TE)

Joes has faced more defensive blitzes that any QB this year and he has been sacked the fewest times.

It's unrealistic for people to think of Joe as Peyton, because Peyton came into the league already a famous QB.
Peyton has success because of his thorough understanding of the defenses which he received from his father who was a NFL QB. That is why he is a great QB, he was trained since he was a child.

Joe on the other hand came from a DE college and as fly pointed out was expected to be a project but instead was thrust into the starting position.

For the first couple of years Joes was expected to manage the game. Handing the ball to Rice was a big part of that process. But when Joe threw the ball he showed great accuracy and arm strength.

For the first three years Cam's strategy for Joe is that Cam will call the plays and Joe will execute those plays. Joe has no freedom to call his own plays. As Cam said "its overated, I expect Joe to execute the plays I call" So what you see on the field is Joe running plays called by Cam. Joe has been executing plays called by Cam even if those plays were the wrong plays to call.

Joe has the potential to become Peyton but Joe will have to do it while we watch his growing pains.
Joe has the intelligence, arm strength and accuracy and he seems to be learning pretty quick. Where Joe can improve the most is by watching game films of other teams defenses and learning the look. Also, he needs to relax and get a swagger about him, once reading defenses becomse second nature to him, he will.

The most important thing is that Joe's team believes in him and I am willing to accept their opinion because they have first hand knowledge.

Some people have said that Joe looks like a deer in the headlights. But Joe is the Most Blitzed yet least sacked QB in the league. Maybe that is why he looks that way. It is a good thing.

[zarkmepp]

Flacco had one bad game, now all of a sudden, the are questions if he is the guy. I am putting this to bed right here and now. Flacco has the traits of a winner:
* He knows how to prepare
* He leads by example
* He is about the team, not himself
* A great arm, analyst around the league rave about his throws
* Finally he is 24-13 not including 3 road playoff wins & a few weeks ago beat the
Steelers with a perfect drive that HE orchestrated!
People in this town want another John Unitas so bad, they will over critize this awesome young QB. He will continue to play well this year and the numbers will come.
A year ago everyone was WACCO FOR FLACCO, one game , one game, and he is Stoney Case. The coaches are behind him, the players are behind him, and we should be behind him.
To paraphase Bouldin: he is the best Qb I've played with thus far!
Give him time, Flacco will be mentioned with Rivers, Rapestburger, Brady, and Manning.
He may not produce the records, but will have the wins.
Ask Marino about his records! Regardless of his numbers thus far he is a top ten QB in this league right now. This offense will explode this year. And Flacco will be the one to ignite it!

[3-4ravdef509]

Joe Cool.
Unflaccable.
Wacko for Flacco.
The Unibrower.
Charm City Slinger? (still debating if I like that one or not)


Oh, btw, whoever said Flacco hasn't helped win a playoff game...go watch Titans game 2008. And Colts game last year, he threw balls and gave our receivers chances, but they didn't make any plays on them, and Ray was contained the whole game. Dunno what people wanted him to do.
Pats game last year, he was still overcoming his swollen leg, so he wasn't asked to pass a lot.