Flacco?

[Carlos Spicyweiner]

Personally, I don't think he gets the credit he deserves.
Curious how Ravens fan feels?

[Robbie Sharp]

Not a Ravens fan, (except for the upcoming Super Bowl) but to me he's a lot like an All-Star baseball pitcher who runs hot and cold. When he's good, he's really good, but when he's bad well.... I liked him coming out of college, he threw it 20 yards farther than most of the other QB's at the combine, and he's got nice touch when he's on. Him and Torrey Smith together pose a huge threat.He has the ultimate test upcoming, I guess we will see if he can out duel his young counterpart.

[Carlos Spicyweiner]

Originally Posted by Robbie Sharp

Not a Ravens fan, (except for the upcoming Super Bowl) but to me he's a lot like an All-Star baseball pitcher who runs hot and cold. When he's good, he's really good, but when he's bad well.... I liked him coming out of college, he threw it 20 yards farther than most of the other QB's at the combine, and he's got nice touch when he's on. Him and Torrey Smith together pose a huge threat.He has the ultimate test upcoming, I guess we will see if he can out duel his young counterpart.

I agree about the hot and cold.
But how much of that can blamed on his fired OC?

[Bmoreblitz]

Well, consistency is one thing Joe needs to achieve to win over critics and by the way he plays now under Caldwell, that might be happening right. Of course we won't know for sure until next season (can't wait).
Another thing, that helps is compiling great and memorable moments. That 92 yard drive in Pitt won many people over, then came the AFCCG last year and now the Flacco Flick. Whether critics like it or not, Joe's legacy is growing. Becoming a Superbowl-winning QB will help, because Superbowls are what most people remember.

Cam Cameron's play calling is what hurt Flacco. Flacco wasn't even allowed to change plays or call a hot route under Cam. Cam Cameron play calling was too predictable and the routes he called took too long to develop and hardly any routes between the numbers.

Also noticed there hasn't been any "dump off" since Cameron was fired.

Media crowns Ryan "Eite" after winning ONE playoff game in his career. Flacco has won every year they have been in the league.

The guy is a winner period.
he'll, tie Tom Brady for most playoff wins by a QB in his first 5 years with 9. Of course Brady had 3 rings, Flacco will only have 1.

He'll tie Peyton Manning for total Playoff wins with 9 and Super Bowls won with 1.

He'll have more playoffs wins then, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and be just 1 win shy of Big Ben's 10 postseason wins.

[ravensword]

Joe's a different QB when he has adequate protection. He's nowhere near the playmaker Ben is, for example, when things break down. But when everybody holds up their assignments he can make outstanding throws all over the field. Seems like Joe will always have an inordinate number of detractors although he can change a good portion of that a week from today. As a Raven fan who experienced the excruciating Boller years, I am very very happy with Joe as our QB. He ain't perfect but he's the best we've had.

An aside: if I have had a pet peeve over the years it feels like they haven't "coached up" the receivers on what to do if a play breaks down. I see guys jogging around with a defender draped all over them.

[BmorePat87]

Flacco is definitely hot and cold, but he's usually cold in games where the whole team is cold. I would like to blame a lot of it on play calling as he has been hot since Caldwell took over, but there was also the maturing factor that had to occur for him.

He's getting attention now for the games he has helped win (@Pitt in 2011 being a great example) but he often gets overlooked because of failed 4Q leads or comebacks where he set his team up to win.

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/content/the-truth-about-the-front-running-green-bay-packers/15352/

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But if you look at someone like Joe Flacco, who has a less than great reputation, don’t the fans of Baltimore have cause to say he is unlucky? More unlucky than Rodgers even.


It was the vaunted Baltimore defense that let Ben Roethlisberger drive 92 yards for a game-winning touchdown with 0:43 left in 2008, winning the AFC North in the process.
At New England in 2009, Flacco played a very good game, but Willis McGahee being stuffed on fourth down, and Mark Clayton dropping a 4th-and-4 pass with 0:14 left in the red zone ended Flacco’s comeback attempts.
A week later Flacco lost a comeback when Ray Lewis and Co. watched Carson Palmer drive 80 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 0:22 left; enough time for Flacco to add a desperation interception to his stat sheet rather than a kneel down for the win.
Yet even a week later, Flacco came back from a 17-point deficit in Minnesota for the lead, only to see Brett Favre take it back. After leading the Ravens in position for a game-winning field goal, Steve Hauschka was wide left from 42 yards away at the gun.
On Thursday Night Football in Atlanta in 2010, Flacco goes 5/7 for 70 yards and a go-ahead touchdown with 1:05 left. Baltimore blows the lead with 0:20 left, and Flacco doesn’t have enough time left to answer.
In the 2010 AFC Divisional at Pittsburgh, Flacco finds Anquan Boldin late in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead touchdown, but he drops it. On a last-ditch effort on 4th and 18, Flacco finds T.J. Houshmandzadeh, but he also fails to make the catch for the first down.
Finally, in the biggest moment of his career, Flacco is leading a great drive to win the 2011 AFC Championship at New England, and delivers a perfect pass to Lee Evans in the end zone. He drops it with 0:22 left, and two plays later Billy Cundiff blows the 32-yard field goal.


Unlucky? Not when the perception is that Flacco is not that good of a quarterback, and Baltimore has four elite players on their defense that get all the credit. No, we couldn’t possibly be realistic and put the blame on the defense for failing in many big spots, and giving Flacco credit for putting the team in position to win.

Still think fourth quarter wins don’t matter? At the very least, that’s three more division titles for Flacco, three more home playoff games, and a trip to the Super Bowl last season. All of that was within Baltimore’s grasp. One drive or even one play made the difference.

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People are very quick to give credit to the D but slow to actually state when the D screwed up.

Also, look at most of his games against the Patriots: lost a 10 point lead to lose by a FG in OT, has a game winning TD dropped with less than 15 seconds to go, the team kicks their butt but in a game where he is asked to throw only 10 times, has the game winning TD dropped by Lee Evans and misses the Superbowl after outplaying Brady, outplays Brady again to win at home, outplays Brady again in NE to go to the Superbowl. There is a pattern of him playing up to the skill level of the elite QB he faces, even if he loses because of other factors/

Obviously I need to see more consistency out of him, but he has one of the best arms in the league in terms of being able to launch the deep ball. He has all the tools in place now to succeed and that's what he is doing right now. He is succeeding through his own merit. If this continues next season, why not include him in the same talks with other QBs? The record for best post season by a QB is EASILY within grasp. 3 TDs and no picks ties it and another TD takes it with 12 TDs and no picks.

[Speedy Thomas 17]

Just want to wish Ravens good luck as they rep our division and take down the HATED 49ers.

[Robbie Sharp]

You're right 69, he completes this game looking good, he should be mentioned with the so-called elite QB's. I know we joke in the smack forum, but I thought he was the real deal coming out of college. Looks lime I'm 2 for 2, I touted Kaepernick as well coming out of college.

[Carlos Spicyweiner]

What's the opinion now?

[Bmoreblitz]

Joe has answered all the critics.
He won the Super Bowl.
tied Joe Montana for most TDS thrown in playoffs without an interception.
Cemented his place with a 9-4 Playoff Record better then Payton Manning 9-11
Only QB to win playoff game 5 consectutive yrs.
Has more Super Bowls now then Dan Marino.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by Bmoreblitz

Cam Cameron's play calling is what hurt Flacco. Flacco wasn't even allowed to change plays or call a hot route under Cam. Cam Cameron play calling was too predictable and the routes he called took too long to develop and hardly any routes between the numbers.

Just change the names and this would sound so familiar.....

[Stewee28]

Until this year, I thought Flacco was a fluke who was WAAAAYYYYYYYY over-rated. I think he proved throughout the playoffs that he is a very good QB. Elite? I dont know about that. He has led his team to the playoffs each of the last 5 years with one Super Bowl win. If he can fix his Hot & Cold Streaks and be more consistent, his name could definitely enter into the Elite column.

I do not believe he is a $20 Million / Year QB like some say he is. I wouldnt pay Flacco that type of money. But he sure as hell got paid last night after winning the Super Bowl.

[RhythmicGeek]

I'm not going to say he isn't a good QB, because he is. But he had a great team around him as well. I'm not entirely sold on him, and I really don't think he will deserve the money he will get with his new contract. That's just my opinion though.

[Carlos Spicyweiner]

Originally Posted by RhythmicGeek

I'm not going to say he isn't a good QB, because he is. But he had a great team around him as well. I'm not entirely sold on him, and I really don't think he will deserve the money he will get with his new contract. That's just my opinion though.

He "deserves" whatever he can get!
But as a Bengal fan, I hope he cap straps them!

[Bmoreblitz]

In my mind, just think of it as we had a tremendous bargain for 5 years. Just how first round picks are supposed to perform ( not that that always do).