Joe Flacco

[LongTimeOCBolts]

Originally Posted by chopper31

Don't all players (not named Terrell Owens) publicly state respect and admiration for their team's QB ?

Good point. But their comments have seemed really sincere, especially since they have not been generic nonsense about supporting their QB. Suggs, in particular, has really gone out of his way. And, when Ray Rice hasn't been fed, they've complained about that (indicating not a blind obedience to their QB). So just from what I've seen them say, I believe that they mean it.

[Chargerfreak]

Originally Posted by chargertom

He's beaten both elite quarterbacks in the AFC playoffs this year, in Manning and Brady. Beat the media darling Andrew Luck. Not to mention guys like Carson Palmer and Philip Rivers.

If they win the Super Bowl, I think you have to call Flacco an elite QB. 3800 yards, 22 TD's and 10 Ints while running the table in the playoffs against some of the NFL's best.

That ain't elite. He struggled on the road at times this year badly. I am happy for Flacco though. No one has been pounded on more through their career. Everyone forgot that he played college at Delaware. Freakin' Delaware mind you. He's an overachiever that was mislabeled an underachiever. Good for him for winning the AFC.

One thing that has been unfair is that I never liked the Ravens WR's. Mason was average and all they had. That's why they got Boldin and it has really paid off for them. Boldin and Smith are more like it and are really helping Flacco. Running Ray Rice ain't chopped liver either.

[Darklight1216]

Originally Posted by LongTimeOCBolts

Good point. But their comments have seemed really sincere, especially since they have not been generic nonsense about supporting their QB. Suggs, in particular, has really gone out of his way. And, when Ray Rice hasn't been fed, they've complained about that (indicating not a blind obedience to their QB). So just from what I've seen them say, I believe that they mean it.

It's funny that you mention Suggs. He wasn't always on the Flacco bandwagon. Back in '08 he thought that Troy Smith should have been the starting quarterback. The Ravens even named their two-qb wildcard package the "Suggs package" because of it.

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/pos...sold-on-flacco

Suggs wasn't always in Flacco's corner. Early in the 2008 season, when Flacco took over the starting job from an ill Troy Smith in the preseason, Suggs suggested Smith should be the starter over Flacco.

"Right now, I think [Flacco is] all right," Suggs told 2 Live Stews, a nationally syndicated radio show, in October 2008. "But like I said, in the end, Troy should be the starter [because he's] the better man for the job."

[chargertom]

Brian Billick's take on Flacco ....

Many people, myself included, scoffed at Joe Flacco when he suggested he was not only a top-five quarterback in the NFL, but the best overall. Well, he definitely isn’t the best, and he still isn’t in my top five, but it is about time he gets the recognition he deserves.

Since entering the league in 2008, Joe Flacco has not just made the playoffs every season, but he has won at least one playoff game in each of those five seasons. There is only one other quarterback in the history of the league to even start a playoff game in each of his first five seasons, let alone win one each year.

Flacco has an 8-4 postseason record and those eights wins are the most in the NFL over the span of his five-year career. With the win on Sunday, Flacco has now won six career road playoff games — the most in league history. That is amazing considering he isn’t even halfway through his career. Keep in mind, if not for a Lee Evans’ drop in last year’s AFC Championship Game this would be back-to-back Super Bowl trips for the Ravens and the dynasty talk would commence.

This postseason, all Flacco has done is beat the second-coming of John Elway in Andrew Luck, then beat walk-in Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in consecutive weeks. In doing so, Flacco became just the second quarterback ever to beat both Manning and Brady in the same postseason and he did it in spectacular fashion.

Against Manning, he overcame two back-breaking special teams touchdowns and threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns. Then this weekend against Brady, he goes for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

Keep in mind the context here — he outplayed two of the best quarterbacks to ever play the position, and he did it back-to-back weeks. And he did it on their home fields.

All in all, Flacco is 3-0 this postseason with 284.3 yards per game, eight touchdowns, zero interceptions and a passer rating of 114.7. He is doing this sans a superstar wide receiver or tight end to displace coverage or make big plays after the catch.

Yes, Anquan Boldin was once considered amongst the league’s best players, but he is at the back end of his career and rarely creates separation with his marginal speed and route running. What he does do well is attack the football in the air and uses his strong hands to bring in tough catches, but that still requires a nearly perfectly placed lob ball from Joe Flacco.

On the other side, Torrey Smith is in just his second year in the NFL and has shown some flashes but remains inconsistent on a weekly basis. On the other hand, Flacco’s most consistent target in Dennis Pitta, who is far from the prestige of Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Graham, Jason Witten, Vernon Davis and the like.

To make things more impressive, Sunday was just the sixth game Flacco has played under new play-caller Jim Caldwell. Sure, the offense isn’t all that dissimilar to the one implemented by Cam Cameron, but you can’t overstate the importance of the relationship between a quarterback as his coordinator. For them to have this type of chemistry just six games into it is extraordinary.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/b...-review-012113

[Tybat]

Flacco is playing clutch and mistake free football right now and is going to the SB. That should make him elite, at least for right now, though he will never be in the same conversations with Brady, and PM. As well as he is playing, he still is getting a lot of help from his defense, running game and receivers. All of those who think that Rivers cannot lead us to a SB should take note. Just because a QB has struggled doesn’t mean that he can’t take us to the SB and just because you have an elite QB with a name like Brady, Rogers and Manning doesn’t mean you are still going to make it to the SB.

[Darklight1216]

Thanks for posting that break-down by Billick. It's an intereting perspective.

[Va Bolt]

''ELITE'',means to me.A player that impacts not only the game but the way his teammates raise their play as well.Odvious Ray Lewis is that player for the Ravens and Flaco has become VERY clutch!

[chopper31]

Originally Posted by chargertom

Brian Billick's take

^ stopped reading at this point

[BJORN]

Flacco is far from elite but he is a good QB. At this point in time I would put him in the same category as Big Ben, Eli, and maybe Rivers and Matty Ice. I think he is very similar to Ryan in that he is dominate at home and has a very good team around him. If Flacco was in SD he wouldn't be leading us to the playoffs. He is a very good game manager and has a canon of a arm. Bmore plays to his strengths and it works well.

Elite to me is Drew Brees, Brady, and Peyton. End of discussion. The rest are just very good or simply good.

[VournSDSU]

Add Rodgers...