Absolutely. Stellar down the stretch this year. He's moved on from being a game manager during his first two years to being a major component to the Ravens' success the past couple years. He had them in the Super Bowl last year, and all he did this postseason was throw scores and not turn the ball over.
Yes. Flacco deserves to be in the discussion of elite QBs in the NFL by virtue of his overall performance in the playoffs this year IMO.
I don't think he's a top 5-7 QB at all. Maybe top 10. But he deserves credit for helping them win a SB.
I was a huge Joe Flacco hater. I thought he was a scrub, future back up QB for the league. I always thought the only reason he even made the playoffs every year of his career was because of his D. This postseason he proved me wrong. Joe Flacco is a good QB. A Franchise QB. I think he is in the position Eli was when he won his super bowl. Not elite yet, but can prove to be. He showed NFL teams that you need to be patient. I hope he succeeds in the NFL. If Ryan Tannehill becomes Joe Flacco, I wont be too upset.
IMO, he's at the same point in his career that Eli Manning was when he won his first Superbowl with the Giants in 2008. Eli was finishing his fourth season while Flacco was finishing his 5th, but up until that point, many wondered if Eli was actually behind Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers in his draft class. IMO, I think Eli is clearly above both of those two quarterbacks as their careers have played out, and that's not a slight to either of the other two. The same debate will rage on between Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan. At this point in time, Joe Flacco has proven that he can perform when it counts. That's what Matt Ryan has not done. IMO, if Joe Flacco comes back next year and continues his progression the way Eli did, then we can start talking about him among the elite guys. To me, Matt Ryan hasn't gotten to that point yet. He has to prove to me that he can perform in the playoffs. He did well in the regular season, but once again, he is not a playoff performer. IMO, at this point in time, Joe Flacco is the better quarterback between those two. This is why I say that the mistake Miami made in the 2008 draft was not passing on Matt Ryan to take Jake Long. The mistake was thinking that Flacco would get to you at 32 and not being aggressive in trying to move up for him. I know that Miami was very interested in Joe Flacco but they simply didn't want to move up to take him.
I hate us... oh and Flacco really benefited from Boldin (another guy we could have had) going ape nuts crazy in the playoffs. Can you imagine how good we could be if we had Tony Gonzalez and Boldin and drafted Flacco...
Not enough credit is being given to Jim Caldwell, who was brilliant in the postseason. He made adjustment after adjustment and defenses couldn't keep up. Hell of a job by him.
Agreed, many people were scratching their heads when Cam was fired...another move that works out for Ozzie Newsome, the best GM of my generation.
The adjustment that he made on Jacoby Jones' 56-yard touchdown was freaking brilliant. In the previous two games, he called the Double Posts concept and they worked out beautifully. He knew the 49ers were going to be prepared for it, so when he got them in the right coverage, which was quarter-quarter-half, he isolated Donte Whitner with Boldin and Jones. Boldin was in the slot and when the ball snapped, he ran vertically. Once he got past the near defender, he turned his eyes back toward Flacco in false anticipation of the throw. Whitner came forward and then Boldin stopped and turned back outside. In the mean time, Jones worked behind Whitner and ran a double move, post-go route. Culliver tried to pass Jones off to Whitner, who was nowhere to be found.
Yea Jones was even more open than it appeared on TV, great setup great execution great play. Caldwell won't be a coordinator for long.
I think he was put in an awkward spot, I'm confident he will be better next time. Ofcourse many guys are great coordinators and crappy HC's (Here's looking at you Wade) but I feel like Caldwell can be successful as a HC.
He was a perfectly thrown dropped pass from getting his team to the Super Bowl twice..he was an ascending player the moment he entered the league, and deserved his draft status, regardless of what a lot of folks were saying, the talent was on display the whole time.
I like Flacco. I've always thought he was a large QB with a decent arm and just missing the pieces, which are important for any QB to succeed. Being from DE I've always followed his career w/interest and at one time hoped the Phins would draft him, but I'm happy he's done well, and it's nice to see someone who went to school from where I grew up win the big one. It'll do wonders for the area in regards to recruits, I think.
