Joe Flacco number 2?

[hawkprey]

This is no surprise to anyone in the Flacco fan club. We knew the bye week would result in a re-calibrated offense and a different Joe. A comfortable Joe. In fact, I would bet that last week's INT against Miami, which resembles the 99-yard pick-6 against Denver in 2012, is also the last INT he throws all year. Just because I know his play so well. He won't get greedy like that for at least 4 or so games just like he didn't after the Bengals end-of-half fiasco week 1.

[flynismo]

This is no surprise to anyone in the Flacco fan club. We knew the bye week would result in a re-calibrated offense and a different Joe. A comfortable Joe. In fact, I would bet that last week's INT against Miami, which resembles the 99-yard pick-6 against Denver in 2012, is also the last INT he throws all year. Just because I know his play so well. He won't get greedy like that for at least 4 or so games just like he didn't after the Bengals end-of-half fiasco week 1.

Funny you say that, because I think the same, and think he will throw one in the playoffs

[PurpleCity5]

This came after Gary's evaluation. 

 

Gosh this guy has been such a blessing as an OC. I was totally hyped after Caldwell kicked rocks and Ozzie brought in Gary. Such a great coach.

[beanfigger]

Funny you say that, because I think the same, and think he will throw one in the playoffs

 

Hopefully not in his first 100 or so attempts. That way, he breaks the record for consecutive attempts in postseason without a pick, and it also means we make it deep into January/February.

[FlackAttack]

Our O-line has always been playing fine (except a game here and there which is common on any team), hence why Flacco is one of the least sacked QBs in the league and our run game is stellar. The thing about Flacco and the reason people don't give him respect he deserves, is simply because of the receivers. Its said time and time again, and it truly is the reason. When fans constantly see what Flacco goes through week to week, and not just some schmuck paying attention to stats.. its evident that when Flacco plays great, it's because his receivers are getting open, catching balls, and making plays for our QB. Flacco for the most part, puts the balls in areas where an NFL caliber receiver can make a play. I actually thought Aiken starting this past week was our best kept secret, and it showed. He should be starting for the rest of the season.

 

On top of that, receivers are STILL dropping passes even though Flacco stays consistent. This past game Smith caught an easy ball straight to the hands in the endzone, the week before T. Smith missed an EASY touchdown catch at the end of the Chargers game which would have sealed the game (pretty much last snap he's played since, coincidence? Still not buying the "knee sprain"). And of course we cant forget the infamous Lee Evans drop in the AFC championship game against the pats a few years ago, which would have also sealed the game, let alone sent us to the bowl.

 

When Flacco had his run to the super bowl, our receivers MADE PLAYS. Anquan boldin SHOWED UP and played like a BEAST. Without these receivers making plays, Joe Cool is well.. Average Joe. But what makes him Joe Cool, is being consistent with WHAT HE HAS, and it pays off the in the long run when the OC figures out how to work with what we have. Super Bowl run = fired Cam and gave Flaccos the keys (2nd half of the Pats game is prime example, and that crucial 3rd down conversion to Boldin in the Bowl). And as someone mentioned, Kubiak is now working the plays around him and utilizing the talent we have. Benching Torrey will help crucially in my opinion. I honestly think getting rid of him this off-season may be our smartest move, he honestly is not that good. You put him on any other team you won't hear his name for the rest of his career.

[Hardbaugh]

Very surprised he's number two. Nice job. 

 

I predicted before the season he'd have his best year but when Pitta went down I thought his numbers would suffer. Perhaps they have in a small way but kudos to JF that he's playing so well. 

 

I still think he has room for improvement but I believe he'll say that just as the coaches will too.

[JoeyFlex5]

Those two teams (and QBs) have not been playing so great the past few weeks. I don't put them above the Pats because Gronk is trouble and the little option route by Edelmen is probably money against us more times than not. I still think we can beat them, but I think they are the scariest, with perhaps the Steelers second.

yea idk how they mentioned them but not NE. they are by far the scariest team in the NFL, well balanced and we have nobody that can handle gronks YAC ability, hopefully if we see them in the playoffs will hill can set the tone like he did with graham, but im not seeing it. 

 

also edelman is the perfect receiver to gash us all day, those shifty possession receivers have given us tons of trouble, we saw it antonio brown, and keenan allen, and even earlier against cleveland when andrew hawkins absolutely lit us up. 

 

but this thread is about joe, and if we wanna get anywhere with this team, we need him to throw for over 300 yards and win the turnover battle, we will likely also need over 100 yards rushing and at least 3 td's in each game, for that to happen we need to be balanced, and consistent, and that includes redzone, when we see the running game stall in the redzone, then we are looking at trouble, that needs to be fixed. the pass rush will factor in in a huge way, but ultimately this team goes where joe takes us, and does what the pass protection allows him to do.

[JoeyFlex5]

Our O-line has always been playing fine (except a game here and there which is common on any team), hence why Flacco is one of the least sacked QBs in the league and our run game is stellar. The thing about Flacco and the reason people don't give him respect he deserves, is simply because of the receivers. Its said time and time again, and it truly is the reason. When fans constantly see what Flacco goes through week to week, and not just some schmuck paying attention to stats.. its evident that when Flacco plays great, it's because his receivers are getting open, catching balls, and making plays for our QB. Flacco for the most part, puts the balls in areas where an NFL caliber receiver can make a play. I actually thought Aiken starting this past week was our best kept secret, and it showed. He should be starting for the rest of the season.

 

On top of that, receivers are STILL dropping passes even though Flacco stays consistent. This past game Smith caught an easy ball straight to the hands in the endzone, the week before T. Smith missed an EASY touchdown catch at the end of the Chargers game which would have sealed the game (pretty much last snap he's played since, coincidence? Still not buying the "knee sprain"). And of course we cant forget the infamous Lee Evans drop in the AFC championship game against the pats a few years ago, which would have also sealed the game, let alone sent us to the bowl.

 

When Flacco had his run to the super bowl, our receivers MADE PLAYS. Anquan boldin SHOWED UP and played like a BEAST. Without these receivers making plays, Joe Cool is well.. Average Joe. But what makes him Joe Cool, is being consistent with WHAT HE HAS, and it pays off the in the long run when the OC figures out how to work with what we have. Super Bowl run = fired Cam and gave Flaccos the keys (2nd half of the Pats game is prime example, and that crucial 3rd down conversion to Boldin in the Bowl). And as someone mentioned, Kubiak is now working the plays around him and utilizing the talent we have. Benching Torrey will help crucially in my opinion. I honestly think getting rid of him this off-season may be our smartest move, he honestly is not that good. You put him on any other team you won't hear his name for the rest of his career.

disagree about torrey, he may be inconsistent but he strikes fear deep into the hearts of the DB's he faces, every DB knows they could give up a TD on any snap to him, and the only way to stop it is to hope that the safety gets there in time, which VERY often leads to a very long PI(isnt torrey leading the league in drawn PI's and PI yardage? even with missing a game) 

 

matter of fact i think you are very wrong, if torrey goes somewhere like GB or NO or NE or denver or even pitt, where they have a plethora of receiving threats, then torrey become more dangerous than ever, teams keying in on a guy like antonio brown/heath miller or edelman/gronk is the kind of thing torrey needs, he had that for a 4 game stretch in our super bowl run, and he led the charge for our most impossible win as a franchise.

[beanfigger]

Very surprised he's number two. Nice job.

I predicted before the season he'd have his best year but when Pitta went down I thought his numbers would suffer. Perhaps they have in a small way but kudos to JF that he's playing so well.

I still think he has room for improvement but I believe he'll say that just as the coaches will too.

I think Pitta may have hurt his numbers in terms of TDs because he was our most reliable redzone target. He also may have helped keep some drives going, leading to more yards. I still don't think Joe will ever throw for a ton of yards, but he has an impressive TD:INT ratio and is very efficient, which is why he is ranked so high in rankings like this. Scheme and offensive line (which includes solid running game) has led to this.

[baltimorefan328]

I dont know if it is Gary who calls it but I love Flacco doing all these quarterback sneaks. I cant tell you how many times weve had third/fourth and 1 and yell for them to hurry to the line and sneak it. Brady is the best quarterback at that recognizing a very short yardage, hurrying to the line, and sneaking it. Brady at some point was like 50 straight third or fourth and ones converted because of that. I hope Gary keeps calling these in short situations and Flacco gets faster at hurrying to the line to convert them. If we hurry the defense cannot sub and if they do then flacco we just have a too many men on the field penalty there anyway. I mean the guys 6'6, if our offensive line gets any semblance of a push we convert these short distance conversions almost every time

[berad]

Never put a ton of stock in PFF, it's obvious Flacco has been playing extremely well - especially Sunday where he had to work with a motley crew.

 

He's done it a lot this year, lost penciled-starter Ray Rice, Pitta went to IR on a hip injury, Daniels sat a game, Campanaro has been out, Smith basically sat a game, etc.

[ellicottraven]

His new nick name is JFK - Joe Flacco King!

[1/28/01]

His new nick name is JFK - Joe Flacco King!

Its post like this that likely make the outside NFL world laugh at us

[ellicottraven]

Its post like this that likely make the outside NFL world laugh at us

Come on man! A little levity once in a while can't hurt... let em laugh all they want as long as we have the last one.

[cursona pirate]

 

Like others have said I have just seen it the last 2 months. Joe Flacco $$$$

[757RavensFan]

Out of curiousity, has Flacco ever thrown for 400+ yards in a game? If so, he hasn't done it often, B/C I don't recall ever reading about it.   

[757RavensFan]

Never put a ton of stock in PFF, it's obvious Flacco has been playing extremely well - especially Sunday where he had to work with a motley crew.

 

He's done it a lot this year, lost penciled-starter Ray Rice, Pitta went to IR on a hip injury, Daniels sat a game, Campanaro has been out, Smith basically sat a game, etc.

 

Out of curiosity, why did you include him with this group?  I like the kid, but seriously, he only has 6 career catches!!

[berad]

Out of curiosity, why did you include him with this group?  I like the kid, but seriously, he only has 6 career catches!!

 

Yeah but those 6 catches came in three weeks and half (3 for 40 yds) were in the first quarter of the Cincy game before he got hurt. He was coming on hot lol

[beanfigger]

Out of curiousity, has Flacco ever thrown for 400+ yards in a game? If so, he hasn't done it often, B/C I don't recall ever reading about it.

I'll bet if he has then we probably lost that game.

[izvoodoo]

Out of curiosity, why did you include him with this group?  I like the kid, but seriously, he only has 6 career catches!!

 

Yeah but those 6 catches came in three weeks and half (3 for 40 yds) were in the first quarter of the Cincy game before he got hurt. He was coming on hot lol

What Berad said, I think it was clear they were trying to get him involved and he was producing.  It's not like the team was built around him but he can help us.  That shifty little MD guy

[codizzle]

Like others have said I have just seen it the last 2 months. Joe Flacco $$$$

Troll level: All-Madden

[757RavensFan]

What Berad said, I think it was clear they were trying to get him involved and he was producing.  It's not like the team was built around him but he can help us.  That shifty little MD guy

 

I guess I'm questioning why he was included with; Rice, Pitta, O. Daniel, and T. Smith who are all established veterans who have proven their worth.  Campanaro, not so much.  Again, I like the kid, but his sample size of 6 catches isn't enough to say his production is missed so far.   

[callahan09]

But what's his QBR?

Just playing. He's been playing great since the bye and I've got what I wanted from him, which was to step up. If the secondary can do the same this team could be trouble. The pass rush just needs to the secondary to force the QB to hesitate just a second for them to get there. The game against the Browns and and Texans should be telling about this team.

I know you're joking to ask, but ESPN has him as the 6th highest Total QBR on the season.  Over his last 3 games, he was 2nd, 4th, and 5th best of the week.  Aaron Rodgers, by the way, was 6th, 5th, and 9th best of the week for each of the past 3 weeks.  Nobody ranked above Flacco more than once out of the past three weeks...

 

The players who ranked above Flacco in each of those weeks:

 

Week 12: Romo

Week 13: Fitzpatrick, Brees, Luck

Week 14: Dalton, Cutler, Carr, newton

[callahan09]

The real reason Joe Flacco is elite?  I know, I know... just bear with me and read this article:

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/preview11/story/_/id/6898795/from-tom-brady-andy-dalton-espn-john-clayton-ranks-nfl-starting-qbs

 

Let me give you the list:

 

 

THE ELITE

 

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots Arrow is pointing: up

 

2. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers Arrow is pointing: up

3. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts Arrow is pointing: flat

4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints Arrow is pointing: flat

5. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers Arrow is pointing: up

6. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers Arrow is pointing: up

7. Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons Arrow is pointing: up

8. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles Arrow is pointing: up

9. Eli Manning, New York Giants Arrow is pointing: down

10. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys Arrow is pointing: up

11. Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens Arrow is pointing: up

12. Matt Schaub, Houston Texans Arrow is pointing: flat

13. Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Arrow is pointing: up

 

 

Look, you want to talk about consistency?  This article was written prior to the 2011 season.

Joe Flacco has *consistently* been in the conversation of Elite quarterbacks for most of his career.  He's also got jewelry as a pretty good argument, and unlike our pal Eli, Joe earned his jewelry with his arm in high scoring games, not riding on the shoulders of an elite defense.

Seriously look at that list... Josh Freeman was a flash in the pan.  Matt Schaub is done.  Michael Vick is a joke.  Players get put into this conversation after having a good year or two, and then they fall by the wayside.  Compare the young "Elite" Colin Kaepernick to the version we got this year.  How 'bout RGIII?   Matt Moore had a good 2011, and then all but disappeared from the league.   In 2012 Kevin Kolb was starting to look good and had a lot of high points in his body of work, now he's out of the league (and he's not even 6 months older than Flacco).  Matt Cassel made the Pro Bowl after a very good 2010, and has been garbage ever since.  These  are all players that have been in that discussion, have been named higher than Flacco at various points over the past five seasons or so, have had single seasons where Flacco was below them in Quarterback Rating... but Flacco is the only one that's sticking around and winning consistently.  He's had one bad year, and it was a year where the Ravens had easily the worst or at least close to the bottom offensive line, running game, AND receiving corps, and Flacco's numbers took a nosedive in the final two games because he was playing injured (look at the 2009 post-season for more examples of how his numbers can't hold up when he's dealing with pretty bad lower body injuries).  We were in the driver's seat for the post-season, 2 games over .500, he had a positive TD:INT ratio... the wheels fell off for the last two games, so it looks like the season as a whole was much more of a failure than it really was after 14 games had passed.  That was Flacco's worst season *BY A HUGE MARGIN* and we still had a good chance to make the post-season until *HE GOT INJURED*.

Sorry about being so long-winded.  My original point was this: There a few names on that list that make you laugh out loud when you see them today.  Flacco's name isn't one of them.  Therefore I think it's pretty fair to say he's elite, after 4 seasons of work after that article was written, and he's never not been in that conversation since.

[Tenacious Faulker]

Don't know if it was mentioned, but it bares repeating if it was - the change in play happened since the bye week when Kubiak re-evaluated the offense and Harbaugh started holding everyone accountable.  Joe hasn't been perfect, but he can only do so much when receivers drop passes that hit them in their hands.  Red zone efficiency has improved.

 

The last time Joe was this hot was during the 2012-13 Super Bowl run.  Maybe this is Joe just getting started for the same thing?  Just a few weeks earlier. 

[poescrows]

And isn't it ironic that in what could be a record year for our O, the D is our question mark in every game? All those years with great D and just when the O finally gets its wheels, the D stumbles................."hey football Gods, can we get a break here?"

[Gordo52]

^ great post.....

I've grown to hate the term "Elite." Just sounds corny to me now... Knowing we have one of the best QB's in the league is good enough for me. Everyone has different rankings but I think any logical football fan would put him in the 1 or 2 tier. Can't complain with that.

[izvoodoo]

I think it's pretty obvious Joe is a west coast QB and we just never knew it.

[beanfigger]

I think it's pretty obvious Joe is a west coast QB and we just never knew it.

Which is surprising because that's what he was in college, and he was good enough at it for us to draft him in the first round.

[izvoodoo]

Which is surprising because that's what he was in college, and he was good enough at it for us to draft him in the first round.

Yeah but his delivery isn't as fast as you'd like and his feet weren't as quick.  Also until recently no one had run a WC in our division.  I don't think it was a terrible idea, but we should have just run a WC offense the whole time.