Drinking the Joe Cool-Aid
by Elli Fischer on Jan 16, 2012 8:20 AM EST
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Joe Flacco was in all the sports media last week after he claimed that he doesn't get enough credit for the Ravens' success. After yesterday's performance, and all kinds of assessments and grades on the performance, it seems that Flacco is right.
Let's leave aside Dan Dierdorf's asinine in-game commentary, regularly pointing out Joe Cool's low completion percentage while praising Yates for playing really well, other than those picks (and near-picks). All over the media, Joe's performance was called average, mediocre, a "C"; conventional wisdom is that he did nothing to prove his critics wrong.
Look a bit closer, and you'll see that Joe Flacco played great against the Texans. Outstanding.
The best way to illustrate how well Flacco played is by comparing his line to Alex Smith's. Smith was marginally better than Flacco in terms of completion % (57.1 - 51.9), yards per attempt (7.1 - 6.5), and rating (103.2 - 97.1). Smith had 3 TDs to Flacco's 2 on 15 more pass attempts. Smith turned the ball over once, to Flacco's 0 turnovers. And of course Smith had that 28 yard TD run.
Moreover, Flacco's performance had a much greater degree of difficulty. Houston's front seven were in the backfield all game, shutting down the Ravens' running game and sacking Flacco five times (on 32 drop-backs, as opposed to Smith's 4 sacks on 46 drop-backs). Yet Smith is being (deservedly) praised for leading his team to victory, while Flacco continues to draw Trent Dilfer comparisons.
Consider how arguably the two best QBs in football fared against tough defenses: Drew Brees put up ridiculous numbers, but threw two picks. Aaron Rodgers was victimized (like Flacco) by dropped passes, and also turned it over twice. Both wound up with a QB rating below Flacco's.
The Ravens' offensive game plan was clearly dictated by their early lead: win the field position battle (including by protecting the football), trust the defense, and maintain balance (32 pass plays, 31 rush). Flacco executed that plan very well.
Only two QBs were vastly more efficient than #5 over the weekend - Eli Manning and Tom Brady. And Manning put up his numbers against a bad defense. In other words, the Ravens are where they are because of Joe Flacco, not despite him.
What can he do against a poor defense? And for that matter, what can Brady do against a stout one? I look forward to finding out on Sunday, but I like the Ravens' chances.
The opinions posted here are those of the administrator of this blog and his loyal readers. They are in no way official comments from the team, and should not be misconstued as such, even though he thinks he could do just as well or even a better job!
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I really don’t think Joe looked all that bad. He was actually on fire with his passes early on. He made some very nice throws, some of which were dropped as you mention. He got harrassed all day and there wasn’t really anywhere to go with the ball. That fumble was not good and he really needs to stop that, but other than that he did a great job of protecting the ball which most QB’s wouldn’t have been able to do under those conditions. People keep saying Joe needs to get out and make a play, but when you are getting free runners off the edge and pressure up the middle what is there really to do unless you are Vick? This was much more a line issue than Joe IMO. They got tore up in the running and passing game and have to play better. Joe did what he needed to do and this week he gets a D that doesn’t even have 1/3 of the talent that Houston does.
On Ed Reed:
"I’ve told him to his face many times, ‘You’re the greatest safety ever to play the game,’"
"We all learn from each other, but we all learn most from him."
- Troy Polamalu
by AV23 on Jan 16, 2012 8:34 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Agreed
Add those drops to his completions and yardage to his total and his line might look more like 18-27 for 225 yards and a QBR of over 100.
aka 'Rexx'
by Bruce Raffel on Jan 16, 2012 10:08 AM EST up reply actions
People and the media seem to only remember what they saw last, and that was our O being inept through 3 quarters. Joe gets the blame by the media, because of his comments and he’s the QB. It was our entire offense though. No group on O looked good. We were getting beat in almost every one on one battle. We’ll look a whole lot better against New England. They don’t have the talent on their DL that the Texans do.
daytime commentator. night time ninja.
Agreed. As you said every aspect of the O struggled yesterday and that can’t be put all on Joe. The O line especially looked bad. I even saw Yanda get beat a few times. They got some making up to do this week.
On Ed Reed:
"I’ve told him to his face many times, ‘You’re the greatest safety ever to play the game,’"
"We all learn from each other, but we all learn most from him."
- Troy Polamalu
Joe helped us score more points than Houston
We won. Even Brees and Rodgers couldn’t do that. I’ll take it every game.
aka 'Rexx'
I wrote this in another spot of BB, but I had to post it here as well….
Lets look at how Rodgers looked against a good defense…. He missed receivers (they counted some as drops, but WRs were having to leap or dive to get hit in the hands on at least half of them), he fumbled the ball, he looked more average than any other QB in the playoffs this weekend.
Lets look at how Brees looked against a pretty solid defense…. He forced too many balls into tight spots, he missed open WRs, he had good stats but couldnt do what needed to get done to win the game (though I still blame the defense on that team for not stepping up at all)
Overall, any pressure in their faces at all and you get a mediocre looking QB. Now analysts look past it and assume thats where they meant to throw it or blame it on something else, but they played kinda OK and they lost. A guy like Flacco has some drops and they get ignored when they point to his comp%, he has a porous OLine and that gets ignored when talking about the fumble and the lack of yards.
Flacco faced just as much pressure this weekend if not more than Rodgers or Brees and played better than both. Thats why we are still in the playoffs as they watch em next week.
Monkey Feces for OC!
by Mstevens_Design on Jan 16, 2012 10:38 AM EST reply actions
Agreed. No pocket passing QB looks great when they are getting hit all day long and receivers drop balls. Rodgers and that O looked very average yesterday under those circumstances, so how do they expect Joe to constantly overcome that? My favorite is how people expect Flacco to be Michael Vick. He has free runners coming off the edge and pressure up the middle and people are pissed he didn’t get out of there and make a play. I would challenge Brady or Brees to try and get out of that. Flacco is actually pretty underrated IMO of avoiding some sacks and making plays
On Ed Reed:
"I’ve told him to his face many times, ‘You’re the greatest safety ever to play the game,’"
"We all learn from each other, but we all learn most from him."
- Troy Polamalu
Yeah but there was still that one play where he had ages, ducked and dipped past like 3 rushers and still took the sack. Learn to get rid of the ball man.
This is part of the issue. You expect him to duck and dodge the pressure, throw the ball away, but you’ll be pissed when a guy is wide open. Sometimes its just better to take the sack when you’re going to have to punt anyway.
Monkey Feces for OC!
by Mstevens_Design on Jan 16, 2012 1:18 PM EST up reply actions
Degree of difficulty...
I think this is the most important thing to remember when discussing Flacco’s performance against the Texans. That was a top-5 defense. The pass rush was relentless. J.J. Watt is an absolute monster.
However, I cannot agree that Flacco looked “good.” He was decent. He did what was needed to win, but not much more. He missed on several throws, and while there were a couple drops, Lee Evan’s catch was out of this world, and Boldin had a couple nice ones on the sideline as well. I say it’s a wash on the effect of WRs on his numbers. Joe’s stat-line was deserving of how he played.
But the Ravens’ defense won this game. The Ravens scored touchdowns on drives of 2 yards and 34 yards. Next week, Joe will have to do MUCH MORE in order to win. That being said, it should be easier by several orders of magnitude going up against New England’s secondary.
by feartheturtle443 on Jan 16, 2012 10:59 AM EST reply actions
a 90QB rating is pretty solid. If his numbers speak for how he played, then I’ll take a 90 QBR every week.
Monkey Feces for OC!
by Mstevens_Design on Jan 16, 2012 1:19 PM EST up reply actions
Against the NE offense...
Flacco needs to have a better day than 90.0 QB rating. The Ravens are gonna need 30 points to win that game. He might need to go 300+ yards and 3+ TDs. In order to do that, he’ll need to be sharper than he was last Sunday. Let’s hope that the holes in the Pats’ secondary open up and Flacco takes advantage. But there is no question that he will need to play better, regardless of any numbers/statistics.
by feartheturtle443 on Jan 16, 2012 1:34 PM EST up reply actions
The receivers and O-Line are a big part of that. 5 dropped passes and 5 sacks (one of which was definitely Flacco’s fault) equate to drives that could have been extended and points that could have been scored.
Flacco isn’t perfect but he pretty much sleeps in the bed that Cameron makes for him. If he’s going to take 4 sacks that aren’t his fault and have 5 passes dropped, that’s potentially 9 more completions and 100+ more yards passing that we missed on through no fault of Joe’s.
Not trying to speak hypothetically, just pointing out that Joe’s numbers aren’t all his fault.
I love it knowing that there are a handful of Ravens fans in this area who despise the fact that Joe will be our QB for the next 10 years. --Mr. MaLoR
Even still a 90 QBR is pretty solid IMO. People want to knock it, but that is a really solid outing combined with our defense. 100+ QBR is icing on the cake, but definitely a noteworthy day for any QB in the league
Monkey Feces for OC!
by Mstevens_Design on Jan 16, 2012 4:29 PM EST up reply actions
it was a 97.1 as i understand it.
I love it knowing that there are a handful of Ravens fans in this area who despise the fact that Joe will be our QB for the next 10 years. --Mr. MaLoR
QB Rating
A 90 QB Rating is okay. It is actually not that great. Check this out: Tony Romo’s career average QB rating is…96.9. That is his AVERAGE! 100+ QB Rating should not be “icing on the cake.” If you have an elite QB, that should happen a little less than half the time. Aaron Rodgers has a career 104.1 QB Rating. So 100+ QB Rating in more than half his games!?! If Joe wants the respect of an Aaron Rodgers, we can have high expectations of him as a QB, and 100+ QB Rating shouldn’t be that big a deal.
Take into account that the 2 TDs thrown by Joe probably inflated his rating more than his performance warranted. If those had been Ray Rice rushing TDs instead, it would have been a very pedestrian QB Rating. As it was, it wasn’t all that great. For the record, Joe Flacco’s career QB Rating is 86.0. Pretty good but not great when compared to his contemporaries.
by feartheturtle443 on Jan 17, 2012 12:04 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
If this… If that… Joe plays on a football team with dysfunctional coaching and he contributes to victories and a 2nd trip to the conference championship in his first 4 seasons. You may not like the way it looks but you gotta love the results.
by Evan Skev on Jan 17, 2012 12:14 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Follow up info on QB Rating
For clarification on what constitutes a good QB rating…
If you take the 446 starts by the top 34 QBs in the league this season, the average QB rating in any given game was 85.7. Joe’s season rating was 80.9, a little below this average. Historically, he has been above this average. In the game vs. the Texans, his rating was above average (not elite).
However, we should not fool ourselves into thinking that 100+ QB ratings are beyond Joe’s capability. He is a very capable quarterback who has not progressed to his full potential and for some reason not pull the pieces together. Whether that’s on Joe or the offensive gameplans, that’s another question. But lets not kid ourselves, Joe has been good. He has not been great. He does win football games. In order to keep winning, Joe needs to improve his playoff performances.
by feartheturtle443 on Jan 17, 2012 12:30 AM EST up reply actions
Keep in mind that Flacco posted a 97.1 against one of the league’s top defenses.
by Elli Fischer on Jan 17, 2012 2:59 AM EST up reply actions
Rushing TDs
They tried to run it in with Rice. It didn’t work in the 1st quarter, and it didn’t work in the second half. Wish Joe would’ve thrown another 1 yd TD late in the game.
by Elli Fischer on Jan 17, 2012 2:57 AM EST up reply actions
I like this piece a lot.
Two little things:
one, it’s “aid,” not “ade” with “Kool Aid” or in this case “Joe Cool Aid.”
Secondly, “QBR” refers to ESPN’s asinine “Total QB Rating,” which is different from the conventional “QB Rating” that most people are more familiar with.
I love it knowing that there are a handful of Ravens fans in this area who despise the fact that Joe will be our QB for the next 10 years. --Mr. MaLoR
Thanks.
I assumed that Kool-Aid was a play on lemonade. Thanks for clarifying.
by Elli Fischer on Jan 16, 2012 12:58 PM EST up reply actions
It is an amazing product with an amazing mascot. OH YEAH!!!!!!
I love it knowing that there are a handful of Ravens fans in this area who despise the fact that Joe will be our QB for the next 10 years. --Mr. MaLoR
It Was
A dancing dude in an over-sized fishbowl with a smiley face painted on it wearing bright neon polyester pants…
Sounds like something Ben would wear after a crushing playoff loss…
"A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring."
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
"God's whiskers! Your face is as hideous as the demon's in my storybook!"
"I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they do today."
"It's big for a reason."
For Pittsburgh fans, that's Pope, Twain, Rostand, Rogers and Megamind
Actually . . .
It was a dancing dude in an oversized “PITCHER.” No one drinks Kool-Aid out of a fishbowl.
Michael Oher is so fast off the ball that he only appears to be off-sides.
I like Kool-aid as much as the next person, but you can buy like 100 of em for 2 bucks, rebuilding your house is expensive.
Can I get some hot sauce for my doughnut?
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