The Flacco / Eli comparison is valid. And of course Eli got all sorts of criticism until he improved.

The Flacco / Brady comparison fails because Brady won two SBs in those first 4 years. And while victories and titles are the result of teams not individuals, Brady's postseason play was far superior to Flacco's (in the 4 year comparison).

Smith's first 4 years are bad, plus no one is saying Smith is a consistently good QB yet even if they are saying he might have turned the corner with Harbaugh's help.

Joe wasn't helped last week by our O-line or gameplan, imo; and eventhough his rating was very good, and his performance, considering the situation, was better than good, he still didn't put up the production to quiet the average critic. Hopefully he does this weekend.