About
This �Flacco Sure Shut Up His
Critics� Thing
Special Commentary by PalmerSucks
January 26, 2012
First, a special shout-out to our good friend and Ravens fan
�EdReed20.� Now granted, Ed only shows up on our boards when the Ravens win,
but I�d like to say hi anyway. Hope you had a great weekend of
football-watching bud � here�s to you, Ed, wherever that bed is you�re hiding
under! Oh and one more thing � he�s still
garbage.
OK then, on to the more important stuff�
For a guy not going to the Super Bowl, Joe Flacco sure is
getting a lot of praise. Judging from the message boards, Ravens fans were
pretty pleased with him, and no less than the opposing town�s media outlet,
Boston.com, ran a piece this week called �Joe Flacco silences critics with
solid effort.�
First of all, I�d ask, how far does a �solid effort� go toward
changing people�s opinions of you � although considering it�s
Average Joe we�re talking about, things are pretty relative. But did Flacco
really prove anything Sunday, especially in a losing effort?
The numbers look good: 22 of 36 for 306 yards, 2 TDs and a 95.4 rating. Compared with Flacco�s
usual playoff numbers, that�s more than good � it�s downright Hall of Fame.
(Flacco said after the game he �always plays this way�; better check those
lifetime playoff stats again, bud.)
Flacco huggers will point to the stats plus the fact he nearly
led them to a stunning last-minute win, or the fact he �outdueled�
Tom Brady. So then, anyone who�s ever criticized Average Joe can shut the pie
hole now. Because Flacco�s officially �arrived� as a
contending NFL quarterback.
To which I have three little words: �not so fast.�
Yes, Flacco threw for more than 300 yards against the New
England defense. Guess who else did it? The great Dan Orlovsky. Guess who
else? Rex Grossman. Guess who else? Chad Henne.
You could fill up a list of QB�s you�d never take on
your fantasy team with guys who�ve put up three bills on the toasty New England
secondary. Passing for 300 on the Patriots is like tying your shoes, only it takes a couple of hours of film study.
That Brady had an off-game � far from being a positive for
Flacco � only looks worse for Average Joe. For here was a game for the taking,
a game begging for Flacco to take over, against the second-worst pass defense
in football, on a day when the other guys� normally high-scoring offense got
stuck in the mud. If the Ravens had lost on day when Brady had thrown 6 TD
passes, you could say it wouldn�t have mattered what Flacco did. But that
simply wasn�t the case � the Ravens� offense needed to score just 24 points to
win.
They failed to score that many thanks largely to three huge blunders
by �Shut Up the Critics Boy� Joe Flacco:
--On a bootleg Flacco had Torrey
Smith running BEHIND the entire Patriots� defense, and
short-armed the throw. There was no pressure on Flacco, he simply underthrew it. The play went for 42 yards, but would�ve
been a touchdown with more depth on the pass. Instead the Ravens settled for a
field goal.
--On a later play Flacco again had Smith running away from the
defense, but threw up a wild prayer that had no chance of success. Had he hit
Smith there was no chance of him being caught from behind.
This took away an easy touchdown.
--Down by the goal line, Flacco somehow missed his wide-open
fullback inside the 5 for what should�ve been a walk-in TD. Instead he tried to
blast a pass to a well-covered receiver in the end zone -- incomplete. Again,
the Ravens come up with 3 instead of 7.
You hear a lot of talk from Ravens fans about Flacco�s receivers dropping his passes. You never hear
about things from the opposite side. If Flacco makes any one of these three
plays, the Ravens are going to the Super Bowl. Instead, they�ll be watching
from their couches.
What�s more, Flacco was Flacco in the
playoffs � he again gave up the trademark turnover late in the game.
This time he hit Patriots� linebacker Brandon Spikes, who returned the ball to
midfield. That�s right � Flacco made what would�ve been the game-losing play,
except for two ridiculous occurrences that bailed him
out.
First, the Patriots called for a ridiculous bomb to a
seldom-used receiver � into double-coverage --when they should�ve been eating
up the rest of the clock looking for the clinching score. Then, the Ravens
secondary made a ridiculous play to snare a pick, one DB getting a fingertip on
the ball, batting it somehow to his teammate. Are you kidding me?
So instead of blowing yet another AFC Championship game,
Flacco gets off scot-free, ball back in his hands and time still on the clock.
Seconds earlier, I�d been reading posts on the �net saying �game over� � now it
was anything but. Lucky break for Flacco, but spare me the �he sure shut you up� line, mmkay?
Flacco got a second chance through the
efforts of others, not his own.
Yes, kudos to Joe for leading that almost-was last drive,
shades of the 92-yard Heinz Field debacle. But again � think about the defense
he was facing. The Patriots were so desperate for healthy bodies, they had
back-up wide receiver Julian Edelman in at CB � I wondered what was coming
next, Rob Gronkowski at safety? Likewise, the guy who broke up the TD pass had
been fished out of the Raiders� trash can (speaking of desperate).
Another fact: the Ravens began calling designed roll-outs
because they lost confidence in Flacco�s ability to
throw from the pocket. The 42-yarder to Smith caught New England totally by
surprise � thanks to the ineptitude of Joe Flacco.
Flacco also got away with what could�ve been the SECOND
game-ending pick; he forced the ball into coverage on the game�s final third
down. Instead of taking a short sack (which wouldn�t have affected the kick) he
tried to jam it to his receiver. Again, more blind luck.
Like I said in my last commentary, the stage couldn�t have
been set any better for Flacco to shine through Sunday. Here was his chance to
take command and break through to the Bowl. He put up some decent stats, sure,
but last I looked, the Ravens will be watching the game the same way you will
be. The bottom line: Flacco had a decent passing day in a game that called for
a little more than decent. Average Joe chose to be good rather than great.
So if you�re a Flacco hugger, you point to his 300-yard
effort. If you�re me, you point to the 4th-quarter interception. FlaccoFlacco�ed again � only this time he got bailed out. As
far as I�m concerned, nothing�s changed: Average Joe was still himself to the end.But like I said, there�s no shortage of praise for him
� especially in Baltimore.
Of course, all this Flacco love thrills me� already there�s
talk of extending Flacco�s contract. Yes, with any
luck, Average Joe Flacco could be wearing the purple for a good long time.
Who said this season was a total loss?