Merged: Flacco Progression Continues To Improve

[Ed_Reed_Pick_Six]

He's playing well.

I am concerned with several things though. He still forces the ball into tight spaces at times, and he takes forever to wind up his throw at times. If he can improve on these things he'll be borderline elite.

Barring that, I'm sure he'll keep improving his accuracy; as placement of the ball is evidently always key.

[Kwothdaraven]

He was dead accurate today. Elite quarterbacks squeeze throws into tight windows, you cant expect him to not try and do that. That interception was just an incredible play by talib. If any other corner is there, not named asomougha, thats probably a catch.

[rlh445]

[quote name='Kwothdaraven' timestamp='1291023163' post='553810']
He was dead accurate today. Elite quarterbacks squeeze throws into tight windows, you cant expect him to not try and do that. [b]That interception was just an incredible play by talib.[/b] If any other corner is there, not named asomougha, thats probably a catch.
[/quote]

Tell me about it. The guy let the ball go through his hands, but caught it (yes, caught it!) with his ankles and didn't let go all the way through his roll on the ground. I don't know if it's a catch or not, but you can't fault Joe for trying.

[ravensdfan]

[quote name='rlh445' timestamp='1291035767' post='553831']
Tell me about it. The guy let the ball go through his hands, but caught it (yes, caught it!) with his ankles and didn't let go all the way through his roll on the ground. I don't know if it's a catch or not, but you can't fault Joe for trying.
[/quote]

It was an amazing INT that's true. But Housh made no attempt to come back for the ball either. It did not seem like he even put up much of a fight to go for the catch or even to just break it up.

[Mick0311]

[quote name='hammer' timestamp='1290996671' post='553532']
Ok. Now I see what you are talking about. However, you have do decide what are you comparing him to? Compared to all NFL qb play, Joe is stacking up very well. No, over the last 8 games or so, he has even been above average.

I agree, it is not just a matter of stats. It's actually not just wins and losses either. But what you are measuring him to (I think) is other NFL good qb's. And I still say, if you really watch todays standard. Joe is now one of the best.

I understand that you are making an isolated argument, unrelated to his whole body of work, but you should, in the end, recognize the progress he has made. Otherwise, people might think you just hate Flacco. That would be an unfortunate development.
[/quote]


Yeah, that's why I always throw the disclaimer in there about how much I like Flacco, I know how folks get around here. I agree, Flacco is one of the best. I just have an "isolated" issue as you put it lol. I hope it changes, and again, I don't think its a huge deal, just a gripe I have.

[Mick0311]

[quote name='flynismo' timestamp='1290997809' post='553545']
,


i agree to an extent that his pocket awareness needs to improve. It will come, I have no doubt at all about that.

But I have to disagree with the people who think Flacco doesn't do a good job avoiding sacks. I think that he generally does a pretty good job, sometimes excellent, at avoiding the rush.
In the game thread, people were saying that he gets sacked because he holds the ball too long, and because he doesn't know when to throw the ball away.
As I said there, thats on Cam. You cant ask Joe to throw into coverage just to avoid a sack, and you cant ask him to constantly throw the ball away before the play has developed -- and thats why it is on Cam. He should be calling quick passes so that Joe has someone to get rid of the ball quickly to when he sees our OL getting tossed around.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
[/quote]

I hope you're right fly, fixing the play calling is much easier to fix than improving pocket awareness. I'm just not sold on it yet. I think the sack issue is tied into his overall awareness. Don't get me wrong, I put him in the top tier of QBs, and I'm a big fan of Joe. It just seems to me that when he gets sacked, it tends to look ugly sometimes because he just doesn't see it coming at all. you always hear about how some QBs can just "feel" the pocket taking shape, I just don't think that feel is there all the way for him. But yes, in the grand scheme of things, it pales next to how well he is playing, and how great he can be.

[Mick0311]

[quote name='rlh445' timestamp='1291035767' post='553831']
Tell me about it. The guy let the ball go through his hands, but caught it (yes, caught it!) with his ankles and didn't let go all the way through his roll on the ground. I don't know if it's a catch or not, but you can't fault Joe for trying.
[/quote]


Yeah, can't blame Joe for that one. Not to mention Housch was calling for it. I'm glad Joe threw it in a sense, it goes to show how much he trusts his WRs. You call for it, and it doesn't look completely dangerous, its coming to you. I like that.

[FerrariFan87]

[quote name='hammer' timestamp='1290993817' post='553450']
When you consider his [b]"entire body of work"[/b] can you at least [b]"consider"[/b] that you might be nit-picing?"
[/quote]

I'm most certainly nit-picking! Joe is performing at an extremely high level in spite of a porous offensive line and horrendous play-calling. Pocket awareness will be key to his continued growth; it's gotten better, but it's not where it should be.

[FerrariFan87]

[quote name='RivenHale' timestamp='1290995058' post='553486']
Yeah, that interception kind of worried me, because even I could tell that Housh was covered. But after that, Joe really settled down and reminded us all that he's pretty freaking awesome.
[/quote]

After watching the replay again, I think Housh could have done more to come back to the ball, and if he did, that pass may have been completed, but at worst it would have fallen incomplete. I assess comparative fault to Housh on that one.