Joe Flacco recently complained to the media that he doesn’t get enough credit when the Baltimore Ravens win games. He has a point—the Ravens are 44-20 with Flacco at the helm in the regular season. Flacco has also led the Ravens to back-to-back 12-win seasons.
Flacco had a mediocre performance against the Houston Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs last week. Sure, the Ravens won 20-13, but Flacco didn’t impress with completing only 14 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns.
Unfortunately for Flacco, even his teammates noticed how average he played against the Texans. Ravens safety Ed Reed publicly blasted Flacco for his performance:
"Joe was kind of rattled a little bit by that defense. They had a lot of guys in the box on him and they were giving it to him. I think a couple of times he needed to get rid of the ball. It just didn’t look like he had a hold on the offense."
It’s a telling sign when a Hall of Fame safety, yet alone a teammate that is supposed to publicly back Flacco, criticizes his play. Sure, the Texans have an elite defense, but Flacco is in trouble if he advances to the Super Bowl and encounters even better defensive units.
Flacco may get a break next week in the AFC Championship Game. New England touts the NFL’s second-to-last ranked overall defense. Yet New England only surrendered 10 points last week to the laughable Tim Tebow-led Denver Broncos offense, Flacco can do better than that, right?
Some will point out that Flacco already notched a victory in Foxboro a few years ago—in a game that Flacco only completed four passes. Flacco out-performing Tom Brady likely won’t happen.
Luckily for Flacco, the Ravens have one of the elite defensive units in the NFL. If the Ravens defense plays as it should, Flacco won’t have to do anything but continue to dabble in his mediocrity.
What’s perhaps most mind-boggling about Flacco’s inconsistent play is his amazing supporting cast. The Ravens have an elite offensive line and Ray Rice is the best running back in the NFL. Flacco over-relies on Rice catching passes instead of throwing more to stud receivers like Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith.
The Ravens may reach the Super Bowl with Flacco at the helm, but they certainly aren’t leaving Indianapolis victorious. Flacco will have to deal with the elite defensive unit of either the San Francisco 49ers or New York Giants. The Ravens offensive line struggled to keep pressure off Flacco against the Texans, and the Giants and 49ers are arguably better at reaching the quarterback.
It’s not unreasonable to say that Flacco is the worst quarterback remaining in the postseason. He’s not in the same league as Tom Brady, and both Eli Manning and Alex Smith have elevated their game and carried their teams to the NFC Championship Game.
In the regular season Flacco had a worse rating (80.9) than Brady (105.6), Manning (92.9) and Smith (90.7).
Flacco ranked 18th overall in rating behind names such as rookie Cam Newton, Matt Moore, Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb. He hasn’t done much to buck the trend in the postseason, coming in last behind the other remaining postseason quarterbacks with a 97.1 rating.
It would be wise for Flacco to stop spending his time concerning himself with what the media is or isn’t saying about him. His time would be better spent worrying about what his teammates are saying about him publicly.
If he continues to fail to produce, he will lose the support of the locker room and the organization. If that happens, Flacco could simply be yet another underachieving quarterback who never made a Super Bowl appearance.
None of this is to say that Flacco can’t become an elite quarterback someday, but it won’t suddenly happen overnight. The Ravens won’t be able to win a championship this year, and Flacco is to blame for that.
Right now, Flacco is having trouble doing something even Trent Dilfer could do, and Flacco won’t shake that stigma this postseason.
Martin Erat Marcel Goc Jamie Lundmark Nick Spaling Pikka Rinne Mathieu Carle
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