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He might have only thrown 23 passes during the entire game, but Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco made the most of his completions in yesterday's 24-9 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the NFL Wild Card playoff game. Flacco went 12 for 23 for 282 yards and two touchdown passes in the game.
His first half, despite a short TD pass to TE Dennis Pitta, was average at best, going five for 12 for 108 yards and a QB Rating of only 74.3. However, in the second 30-minutes, Flacco was on target, going seven of 11 for 174 yards and another TD pass, this one the game-sealing one to WR Anquan Boldin.
His final numbers translated to ta QB Rating of 125.6 and his average yards per attempt of over 12.0 was almost double his season average, with the top QB's in the league averaging around 8.0 yards per attempt during the regular season.
Flacco hit five different receivers for passes of 20 yards or more, and his stats would have been a lot better had WR Tandon Doss caught at least one of the three balls thrown his way that clanked off his hands. In the first half, Flacco had Doss in the end zone on consecutive plays, only to have Doss unable to hang onto either pass, both which should have been caught. The Ravens settled for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead in the second quarter.
Flacco's performance came in the friendly confines of Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium, where he has consistently played well, as opposed to his problems on the road on a regular basis. For the Ravens to advance to the AFC Championship Game for the second straight year and third time in five seasons, he will have to take that same solid act on the road, starting at the Denver Broncos next Saturday afternoon.