How can people (idiots) bash Flacco getting paid when he has these HOF-type accomplishments on a his resume'

[FadeToBlack]

I would be lying if I told you that I did not doubt Flacco last regular-season. During the first Denver game, I seriously questioned whether Flacco should be evaluated. Then, out of nowhere, he has a miraculous postseason run. Ultimately, I value clutch play in big games as big as any other factor. If I'm going into a playoff situation, I want a guy who knows how to bring his a-game. If that means that he performs at a substandard level multiple times throughout the regular season, as frustrating as that might be, I would rather have the clutch play when it matters most. It will be very interesting to see if his inconsistency was exclusive to playing under Cam Cameron. Or, does he just pick and choose when he wants to play well? Either way, many teams would want to have Joe Flacco as their quarterback, and I'm happy that we have him as ours.

[Shambla]

I'll play devil's advocate.

1. Only quarterback to start and win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons.

2. Most road playoff wins by a quarterback: 6.

For your first two points (and Joe's winning in general) a lot of people use the "winning is a team stat". That has some validity but you don't see a #16-32 QB taking a team to the playoffs multiple years, occasionally you just have blips like Ponder's 2012 Vikings, Cassel's 2010 Chiefs, Grossman's 2006 Bears, etc. My counter is that if all the Ravens needed was an average dude to fill in at QB and win with a defense than how come the Ravens won a total of 1 playoff game from 2001-2007?

However, there is some truth to Joe winning because of his team in the playoffs - in the beginning. You can basically draw a line in the sand to where he went from going along for the ride to actively contributing.

2008 & 2009 playoffs:
47.5% 1 TD 6 INT 46.2 Rating

That's 1 TD in 5 games, completing less than half his passes, and a horrible rating. I think it's fair to say Joe was along for the ride.

2010, 2011, 2012 playoffs:
59% 18 TD 2 INT 105.1 Rating

Starting with the KC game Joe began to turn the corner. Huge improvement in completion percentage, an amazing TD:INT ratio, and a great passer rating. His passer rating in the playoffs per year: 50.8, 39.4, 90.0, 96.1, 117.2.

3. Most touchdowns in a postseason: 11 (tied with Joe Montana and Kurt Warner).

4. Most touchdowns without an interception in a postseason: 11 (tied with Joe Montana).

5. First quarterback to have a passer rating over 100 in all four games of a single postseason.

6. Most consecutive playoff games with three passing touchdowns: 3 (tied with Bernie Kosar, Kurt Warner, and Aaron Rodgers).

These points are explained by sample size. Joe had one of the best playoff performances by a QB ever, but it was only 4 games. The public watched those games but they also saw Joe lay eggs in the nationally televised game against the Jaguars, a slew of bad performances against Pittsburgh, and I'm sure some others. They're well aware that Joe can be hot or cold.

The bottom line is that the public has seen Flacco have good games and they've seen him have horrible games and all the while he doesn't help their fantasy team so they just don't trust him.

I'm really excited to see what he does this year. Having Cam gone is great (understatement) and if you look at just about any great QB they typically only get better after 5 years.

[PainServer52]

Two words - Fantasy football

[Unibomber]

Aaron Rodgers is gonna set the market again. I've heard as much as 3 mil/yr more than Joe. Then Matt Ryan will have a blockbuster deal, then the other guys. The market for franchise Qbs ain't getting any smaller. Joe may have been streaky, but he has definitely raised his game to an elite level at times.

[bacchys]

I think calling him streaky or inconsistent is inaccurate. When Flacco's had a bad game, the entire offense has played poorly. It's not like we ran the ball well, but Flacco couldn't throw a good enough pass.

Those "bad games" by Joe usually also saw the O-line getting whumped on, Flacco getting hit a lot, the running backs doing nothing positive, and receivers dropping a lot of passes.

Even so, he's kept his cool and kept getting up and trying to deliver. He doesn't get rattled, even when he has made a mistake and thrown a pass he shouldn't have. That's a good quality in a QB.

[leachisabeast]

Look, I'll admit that I thought Flacco was at the root of the problem mid season, not because I thought he was bad, but I thought they were asking too much of him for what I thought he was, a solid QB but nothing more. I was wrong, and it's clear it was the SYSTEM not the QB.

Every time I hear somebody complain about Joe, I have to explain to him/her that no other QB is asked to make the throws Joe can make, there are no EASY passes in this offense, and it was only when Caldwell took over that Flacco really put together a consistent performance in that stretch run, not because the system changed, but because Caldwell simply used the plays out of the book that plays to his strengths. Now that Caldwell has an offseason to work with, I think you're going to be seeing a lot more easy throws incorporated into the playbook, maybe some more short/quick timed passes, and other wrinkles. I'm not saying Flacco should just be exempt from any blame when the offense goes wrong, I thought he generally had an awful game against Denver in the regular season. However, you can't tell me a player can go and look like Mark Sanchez in Jacksonville, but then play on a Joe Montana level on the way to winning a SB, there was obviously some serious fundamental issues with the offensive system and play calling, anybody who thinks otherwise is either extremely ignorant, hasn't really studied the Ravens offense on film properly, or doesn't understand the game well enough.