Miles
Well-known member
- Mar 18, 2019
- 2,455
- 0
So far, the signs are promising.
"Joe Flacco is always interacting with everyone in the locker room," running back Phillip Lindsay said at the end of minicamp. "You can tell that he’s a born and natural leader. He’s confident in his abilities and he’s been there. He’s been to the Super Bowl. I’m excited. He knows what he’s doing. When it comes to the season, you get turned up. It’s a different feeling. He’s been through the fire, games in and out, so I’m excited about this season."
Flacco gives the Broncos a fresh start. But being in Denver also gives Flacco a fresh start after a four-season stretch in which he did not match his previous form.
In that span, he ranks 43rd in passer rating (82.7), 21st in completion percentage (63.9), 29th in touchdown-to-interception ratio (plus-18) and 54th in yards per attempt (6.32) among the 61 quarterbacks who attempted at least 200 passes over the last four years. National skepticism about Flacco's outlook is built on numbers like these.
Hope exists in the fact that the Ravens, like the Broncos, typically featured an outstanding defense that helped create successful complementary football with Flacco at quarterback. Including the postseason, Baltimore went 106-72 in games that Flacco started. But in the last four seasons, that record was just 24-27, with a 6-2 mark in games he did not start.
If Flacco's individual production and his team's overall record remains at that level, the Broncos could find themselves spinning on the same hamster wheel of frustration that has defined their efforts since they started the 2016 season 4-0 in the wake of their Super Bowl 50 win. But if Flacco succeeds, students of NFL history will be talking about him in the same breath with quarterbacks such as Y.A. Tittle, Kurt Warner and Broncos Ring of Famer Craig Morton. All recaptured -- or even surpassed -- their younger form after making their debut with a new team after their 34th birthday.