Joe Flacco was placed among the second-tier quarterbacks in an ESPN surveyof NFL front office members and coaches, and there really shouldn’t be much of an argument about it.
This is a fair ranking, especially when you read how the tiers were defined: “Tier 2 QBs are less consistent and need more help, but good enough to figure prominently into a championship equation.”
Joe Flacco is a streaky player during the regular season, but he has been at his best in the playoffs. Jamie Squire/Getty Images
By those standards, Flacco is the very definition of a second-tier quarterback. He has his extreme ups and downs in the regular season, but he raises his game in the postseason to make sure his team is in the title chase. Since 2011, Flacco’s passer rating in the regular season is 82.9 (88 touchdowns, 56 interceptions) and his rating in the playoffs is 107.5 (21 touchdowns, three interceptions).
Flacco was ranked No. 10 overall, which put him behind three second-tier quarterbacks (Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson and Tony Romo). He’s ahead of the likes of Matt Ryan, Eli Manning and Matthew Stafford.
In the Insider post on quarterback tiers, the biggest criticism of Flacco was his mediocre statistics and his inability to carry the team. What continues to get overlooked is the supporting cast around Flacco.
His receivers let him down frequently last season. He had the most yards lost due to dropped passes in the NFL last season, according to Pro Football Focus. And the Baltimore’s defense isn’t as good as many believe based on the franchise’s reputation. The Ravens allowed the most passing yards in team history in 2014.
Unlike the two quarterbacks ranked ahead of him, Flacco doesn’t benefit from a top-end receiver like Dez Bryant or a dominant defense like the one in Seattle. It also hasn’t helped Flacco that he’s had four offensive coordinators and three quarterback coaches in four years.
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