Why The Baltimore Ravens, Joe Flacco Shouldn’t Have Issues in 2015
By Joe Wedra
It’s easy to forget that the Baltimore Ravens were one Joe Flacco pass away from an AFC Championship berth in 2015 .
It’s even easier to forget that Flacco had 4 touchdowns and was constantly brilliant against the Patriots in the divisional round — just one game after he played a near flawless game to send the Steelers packing in the Wild Card round, a game nobody anticipated Baltimore winning.
If one thing has become clear during Flacco’s reign as Baltimore’s guy, it’s that he’s on pace to become one of the best playoff performers in the modern era.
Sure, he’s made his mistakes.
What quarterback hasn’t?
The jury is out on Flacco (and it always has been). But perspective must be kept in that the Ravens’ top-man is only just entering his prime. Entering his eighth season at the helm, Flacco is expected to continue Baltimore’s playoff appearances and potentially snag one more ring before he checks out of his stay in the NFL.
Some aren’t so sold, even after Flacco has proven his dominance in nearly every situation possible. The following from NFL.com’s Elliot Harrison, who has the Ravens in the “second tier” of AFC contenders:
"Achilles’ heel: Passing attack.Joe Flacco is better than people realize, but I didn’t include him when listing the top 10 quarterbacks for 2015, mostly due to his supporting cast. The Ravens will be starting a 36-year old wideout in Steve Smith and, potentially, two rookies in receiver Breshad Perriman and tight end Maxx Williams. This could be problematic, given that Flacco’s middle-of-the-pack passer rating (91.0) last season was the second-highest of his career."
The passer rating stat is fair, but invalid in an argument of whether or not Flacco can handle the cards he’s been dealt.
Since when has “Cool Joe” been a perfect, Aaron Rodgers-like quarterback? Never, for all intents and purposes in this fantasy football driven NFL world.
However, when has he needed to be perfect? The same answer can be applied when it all boils down to football.
Flacco has quite literally made lemons out of lemonade through his entire career.
To begin, he was trapped under a conservative Cam Cameron regime that many will argue stunted his growth right out of the starting gate. As time progressed, the Ravens began to realize the fatal flaw in Flacco’s upbringing — he needed a system. A simple one that relied on a running game and one significant reception receiver who could carry a major load.
Enter Anquan Boldin.
After Boldin, Steve Smith Sr.
And finally, in his 2014 campaign and 7th season in the league, the Ravens gave Flacco a legitimate offensive front and running game to work with and more importantly, win with. And despite injuries and a myriad of issues, Flacco did just that.
Having the best season of his career sans a major “sexy option” on offense, Joe Cool proved that he’ll always be just that. Sometimes, much more (see 2012 Super Bowl run).
So, dare Joe Flacco to crumble with a “lack of weapons” on offense. Tell him that he doesn’t have the firepower to produce another deep run in 2015.
I’ll put my cards on the table for the Baltimore quarterback with confidence.