Flacco Postseason Experience

**Culex** · 01-16-2020, 04:31 PM

Playoffs are a different animal and Flacco didn't become the playoff warrior overnight. It took experience and this isn't a bash on him but rather a form of comfort for all of you.

First 5 postseason games:

660 yards passing 1 TD, 6 INT

3-2 W/L record with opponents averaging 15 PPG

Next 10 postseason games:

2563 yards passing 24 TD 4 INT

7-3 W/L record with opponents averaging 21 PPG

Lamar after 2 postseason games has

559 yards passing with 3 TD 3 INT and 197 yards rushing.

Basically in two playoff games has more total yards and touchdowns than Flacco after 5 playoff games.

0-2 W/L record with his opponents averaging 25 PPG

Conclusion: Lamar has not had the luxury of elite defensive performances in the postseason the way Joe did and by the time our defense began to diminish with age (yet still playing better than what it is now) Joe had already by that time played more postseason games than most QBs in the league.

We've got to shore up this front 7 in the offseason. Going down 14-0 early is mostly the result of poor defense.

**GreatWhiteNorthRaven** · 01-16-2020, 04:33 PM

*grabs popcorn*

**Terpsfan82** · 01-16-2020, 04:34 PM

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteNorthRaven

*grabs popcorn*

*Joins you*

**Culex** · 01-16-2020, 04:36 PM

**purple_city39** · 01-16-2020, 04:47 PM

Well, there's really no false info here. People have been saying how Joe won playoff games his rookie and sophomore year but that just let's me know they about them. Flacco was absolutely carried to playoff wins his rookie year. And I won't even go into the 2009 Patriots playoff game (to be fair he was injured). Now 2011, 2012, and 2014 us when Flacco truly shined and show consistency in the playoffs. That's year 4, 5, and 7. Playoff game #8 and on

**Jeepercreepermd** · 01-16-2020, 04:48 PM

Originally Posted by Culex

Going down 14-0 early is mostly the result of poor defense.

So the defense gave Tennessee the ball at our 35 and 45? Tennessee should have never had the ball on that 2nd touchdown and it wasn’t the front 7 that got burned on that play so I’m not sure I follow

**Jeepercreepermd** · 01-16-2020, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by purple_city39

Well, there's really no false info here. People have been saying how Joe won playoff games his rookie and sophomore year but that just let's me know they about them. Flacco was absolutely carried to playoff wins his rookie year. And I won't even go into the 2009 Patriots playoff game (to be fair he was injured). Now 2011, 2012, and 2014 us when Flacco truly shined and show consistency in the playoffs. That's year 4, 5, and 7. Playoff game #8 and on

Eh in 2011 he was pretty bad in that W vs Houston in the divisional game. He balled out vs NE the next week though

**purple_city39** · 01-16-2020, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Jeepercreepermd

Eh in 2011 he was pretty bad in that W vs Houston in the divisional game. He balled out vs NE the next week though

Meh. I don't disagree enough to argue (although I think "pretty bad" is a stretch considering that Texans defense in 2011), from 2011 forward, Joe kept a passer rating above 90. More often than not, that's a good thing for a team. Especially one predicated on defense and the run game

**Jeepercreepermd** · 01-16-2020, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by purple_city39

Meh. I don't disagree enough to argue (although I think "pretty bad" is a stretch considering that Texans defense in 2011), from 2011 forward, Joe kept a passer rating above 90. More often than not, that's a good thing for a team. Especially one predicated on defense and the run game

Yeah maybe pretty bad was a stretch, but definitely a game where the defense lead the way vs Houston offense lead by some scrub backup QB.

**Culex** · 01-16-2020, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by Jeepercreepermd

So the defense gave Tennessee the ball at our 35 and 45? Tennessee should have never had the ball on that 2nd touchdown and it wasn’t the front 7 that got burned on that play so I’m not sure I follow

The offense did them no favors there but the defense gave up nearly 200 to Henry. The defense Flacco had would have held them to a field goal there

**cvilleRaven** · 01-16-2020, 05:12 PM

The 2008 - 2012 defense had at least 3 future Hall of Fame players. The 2019 defense has...? Earl Thomas is about the closest we've currently got.

Lamar is still ridiculously young. The championship window is still open for another 3 years. If we "only" record one Lombardi every 10 years, that's still better than most teams in the history of pro football.

Regardless of the outcome of this season, the priority of the 2020 free agency and draft is edge rush and linebacker. After the Cleveland game, that was obvious, and it wasn't going to change.

Yes, Lamar made some costly mistakes. The interception on the first drive was due to a pass that was too high (Andrews still had a play on it). Hurst should have caught a TD pass that hit him in the freaking chest. There is PLENTY of blame to go around for what happened on Saturday.

Flacco had his issues early on as well. How many times did Polamalu end our season on a strip/sack? In the 2008-2012 run, the biggest hurdle was Pittsburgh. We got over that bump, hit a road block at New England, and then barreled through it.

Lamar's issues right now: he zeroes in on his security blanket (Andrews), and by design or by lack of experience, doesn't move on from there. He tries to do too much himself (that's going to lead to fumbles in the playoffs, as we've already seen twice). Some games, he comes out a little too excited, and that leads to a few slightly overthrown balls (which, due to the tight windows that exist in the NFL, can very quickly turn into interceptions). Solutions to these issues: he needs to mature as an NFL QB. Stop panicking (coaches: YOU TOO!!!). Lean on the run game. Send the runs outside the tackles (I can't tell you how many times I was screaming for sweeps, pitches, wheel routes, ANYTHING when Tennessee was stacking the middle of the line - just get the ball out into space!) Tight man coverage? Back shoulders, curls, and double moves (receivers need to mature as well to sell these routes and body moves).

We went 14-2 with a very young team, breaking record after record along the way. And the offense will be back next year with minor (if any) changes in personnel. Bolster the front 7, coach up the WRs, and let Lamar continue to progress. If he makes even 25% of the improvement he did from year 1 to year 2 in year 2 to year 3, we're going to be right back where we were at 8:05 on Saturday.

**Davesta** · 01-16-2020, 05:15 PM

Interesting post. Can we make a separate post of harbaugh’s playoff appearance / success with ray Lewis and Ed Reed and compare it post 2012 super bowl?

Where he won 1 playoff game in 8 years. missed playoffs 4x. And 2 first round exits, including this big upset.

In my Bernard pollard’s voice: without ray and him having to coach and do in-game adjustments... GL.

But for reals.. all this blame on lamar.. I think harbs deserve a ton too