Joe Flacco had one of the best postseason runs in NFL history last season, and led the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl win.During that magical postseason run, Flacco threw for 11 touchdowns and didn’t turn the ball over once. Joe Montana is the only other qurterback in NFL history to accomplish that feat. Flacco’s terrific play helped him earn a new six-year, $120 million contract.
However, the Ravens have gone through a lot of changes this offseason. Ray Lewis retired, Ed Reed left in free agency, and most importantly for Flacco, Anquan Boldin was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.
With all these changes, can Flacco continue his terrific play into next season?
Not having Boldin is going to really hurt Flacco. Last season, Flacco completed 62% of his passes that were targeted at Boldin, compared to only 48% of his passes targeted at his other receivers.There were multiple times during the postseason last year where Flacco just threw the ball up for grabs, and Boldin would come down with it. The Ravens haven’t signed anyone to replace Boldin, and no one else on their current roster has the ball skills that the veteran wideout possesses.
The rest of the Ravens receiving core is pretty weak.
Torrey Smith is a solid receiver, but after him there are a lot of question marks. Jacoby Jones has always been a kick returner that played some receiver too. However, the Ravens’ receiving core is so weak right now that they are going to need him to step up and be their No. 2 receiver. Jones failed his preseason conditioning test, so that move is off to a rocky start.
Training camp will determine who the Ravens No. 3 and No. 4 receivers are, but those two spots could end up being Tandon Doss (7 career catches) and David Reed (5 career catches).
Baltimore’s tight end tandem of Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson is one of the best in the league, and Flacco relied heavily on those two last year.
However, Pitta is out for the rest of the season with a fractured hip. Baltimore signed Visanthe Shiancoe to replace him. Pitta was Flacco’s safety net and favorite third-down down receiver last year last year, so not having him is really going to hurt.
Towards the end of the season, the Ravens defense found their groove and started playing extremely well. They often gave Flacco and the rest of Ravens offense short fields to work with. Without Lewis, Reed, Paul Kruger, Bernard Pollard and others on defense, Flacco may not have nearly as many short fields to work with.
Even with all this being said, it shouldn’t shock anyone if Flacco tears it up next year. In the seven games Flacco has played since Jim Caldwell took over as offensive coordinator, he has thrown 15 touchdowns to only one lone interception. This is the main reason why how he was able to earn that humongous contract.
But the odds are against him.
In his five-year career, Flacco has never thrown for 4,000 yards in a season and the 25 touchdowns he threw for in 2010 are the highest total of his career. To put that into perspective, 11 quarterbacks threw for 4,000 or more yards in 2012 and 12 quarterbacks threw 25 or more touchdowns. Flacco clearly has never played his best football in the regular season.
Look for the Ravens to be very competitive again next season, but don’t be surprised if the Ravens $120 million dollar QB doesn’t put up massive numbers in the regular season, as shown in the past.
[Mike Lucas Sports]
