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After leading the Ravens to a 2-2 record that possibly could have been 4-0, rookie quarterback Joe Flacco has done enough to nail down the starting job for the rest of the year.
Coach John Harbaugh announced the decision on Wednesday.
Going into the season, the thinking was that Troy Smith, the 2006 Heisman winner, would be the starter. But a protracted case of tonsilitis gave Flacco a chance to grab the job. And he did.
So, given the fact that Flacco was a first-round pick and will emerge from 2008 (barring injury) with 16 starts, it looks like Smith will be at best a backup for the Ravens, until his contract expires.
And that comes after the 2009 season. At that point, the Ravens will be able to keep Smith for another year via one of the restricted free agency tenders.
October 9th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Given a good wide receiver or two and a KEY retooling of the defense in the off-season or the following off-season, this team could look great again. ..Even offensively.
Can’t wake for Baltimore to make me want to root for the home team.
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Rating: 2 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 8:41 am
The general rule of thumb used to be that a rookie quaterback needed 2 or 3 years to develop. This year really seems like the exception between Ryan and Flacco. Good for the Ravens.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Flacco has looked pretty good at QB so far. Not great but pretty good. If he can develop properly then the Ravens may have something special there.
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 8:48 am
As a DC resident, I kinda like the Ravens and I like Harbaugh but is he watching the same games that the rest of us are? Flacco threw two of the worst interceptions of all time on Sunday. Yes, he’s the future but you’ve got a Super Bowl-caliber defense right now, why not take a look at Smith if he’s healthy after what just happened. I don’t get this.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I think Matt Ryan and Flacco could be the next Marino and Elway. Hopefully Flacco is more like Elway though and wins several superbowls.
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Rating: 2.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 9:05 am
QBs get hurt all the time. I’m sure Troy will get a couple starts before his contract is up. He seemed like he needed to develop a bit as a passer anyway.
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Flacco is more like a Ken O’Brien. His name will never be utterred with Marino and Elway…my god man. Marino went the probowl his rookie year.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 9:45 am
This will make Jaws real happy. I’m still pissed about having to listen to Jaws talk about how incredible Flacco was for 3 hours. It really was the 1st time I ever turned down the volume because it was so bad.
All this, and Flacco has 1 TD pass all year (a 1 yard pass). He has a few interceptions and fumbles that cost his team the game though.
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Rating: 2.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 10:13 am
The sad thing is that the rookie QB that looked the best in the preseason isn’t even playing. But, mark my words, Chad Henne will tear up the league when he gets the Fins handed over to him.
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Rating: 2.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Well, this all but secures the AFC North for the Steelers. Flacco has lost 2 games for the Ravens. He’s got a nice arm but he’s decision making has been terrible. It’s a shame too, if was just able to manage the game and not lose it for the ravens (a la Trent Dilfer), they have a super bowl caliber team. Way to throw away the season Harbaugh.
Got to feel bad for Troy Smith. He was about to be a starting NFL QB, then illness knocks him down and now he won’t be a starter for the foreseeable future.
Wow, I can’t believe someone actually talked about Ryan/Flacco and Marino/Elway. They’ve played 9 games total combined. Let’s give it a couple seasons and give defenses tape on the QBs before any anointing begins. They have a better chance of becoming Carr/Harrington, just based on the likelihood of these 2 QBs actually panning out to be some of the best of all time.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 10:26 am
“Marino and Elway?”
What the hell are you smoking? Let them accomplish 1/2 of what these guys did before you even include them in the same breath.
Some Starting QBs get hurt and are never the same, so for Marino and Elway to play as long as they did and at that high level is nothing short of amazing.
Flacco hasn’t really shown much against a good defense. The Bengals and Browns are hardly that.
Against the Steelers he was 16/31 191 yds 1 TD 0 INT
Against the Titans he was 18/27 153 yds 0 TD 2 INT
Titans and Steelers are ranked #5 and #2 respectively.
The Dolphins are ranked #7. I look for Flacco to have another subpar game against a top ranked defense.
Let the guy do something consistently against good defenses before you hype him up to be the next Hall of Famer.
I’m not saying that he won’t be, but he hasn’t shown anything extraordinary yet.
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Rating: 3.35 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Don some of you understand the concept called making a prediction? The guy said that Flacco and Ryan COULD be the next Elway and Marino, and I agree.
Flacco has made poor decisions and has thrown only 1 TD, but you have to look beyond stats when talking about Flacco and even Matt Ryan. Numbers don’t lie, but they also don’t tell the entire story. Both guys have shown great leadership and have led their teams to tough wins in situations that other rookie QB would have failed miserably.
While Flacco has only thrown for one recorded TD, he really should have four right now. Heap dropped a sure TD that was right in his hands. Harbaugh should have challenged the TD pass to Mason in Pitt.
Also, Flacco has run for a TD, so he actually has two TDs.
He is a rookie and made two poor passes against the Tenn Tits, but he has the intelligence and strong workethic to overcome those errors, and his teammates believe in him.
In about five years, we will call Flacco, Ryan, Cutler, Rodgers, Trent Edwards and Eli Manning the top 6 QBs in the NFL. Chad Henne is also impressive.
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 11:41 am
“2-2 record that possibly could have been 4-0,”
Ok, can we give a rest to all the “this team could possibly be (insert record here)” talk?
I know they lost 2 close ones, but they LOST 2 close ones. The Rams COULD be 4-0 if they won all their games. The Bills COULD be 0-5, but they’re not.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
October 9th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
What about him has you believing he will be a top five QB? Based off of what we’ve seen he is a work in progress. He is just the best of what the Ravens have. Alot of guys COULD have been good.
Dan McGwire was huge and could throw a football through a brick wall…
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