Although it might be controversial to award a participant the QB of the Week award for a sport his crew misplaced, we simply have no idea what number of extra possibilities we’re going to get with Joe Flacco. He’s the one quarterback within the NFL who might both by no means see the sector once more or lead his crew to the Tremendous Bowl.
Joe Flacco, the quarterback with the worst finest profession of all-time.
In his first begin of the season in Week 5, Flacco threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, however you most likely already knew that. Flacco’s been a scorching matter all week, not only for throwing a number of touchdowns in his seventh straight look relationship again to final season, not just for 5 300-yard video games in that span, but additionally for the spotlight I noticed greater than another this week.
And the Colts, arms tied behind their backs, are going to bench the quarterback with the NFL’s highest passer ranking (115.6) for the quarterback with the league’s lowest passer ranking (60.2). No matter whether or not or not that’s the proper determination or the fallacious determination — and there’s no clear reply as a result of Indianapolis’s total goal for the final 18 months has been to make a crew for Anthony Richardson — it’s nonetheless one of the crucial wild choices that can occur within the NFL this yr.
Enjoying for his third completely different offense and offensive coordinator and supporting forged within the final three years, Flacco’s dominance towards the Jacksonville protection proved that he can nonetheless do sure issues on the quarterback place that we aren’t seeing from plenty of the league’s younger quarterbacks at the moment. What number of groups that instantly handed the keys to a rookie or a second-year participant are doubting the choice to not make a suggestion to Flacco just like the Colts did?
It’s INSANE that the #Colts had been the ONLY crew to supply Joe Flacco a deal after final yr’s run with the #Browns. He introduced Indy again from a two-TD gap with 5 minutes to play, this sport is prob completely different if he has Jonathan Taylor wholesome and Flacco clearly has plenty of magic left
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) October 7, 2024
Jim Irsay and Chris Ballard trusted their consciousness of Richardson’s volatility and up to date damage historical past, so why didn’t we see that very same sense of urgency from the Dolphins as an insurance coverage coverage for Tua’s new contract? The Titans had been certain that Will Levis might out-play Joe Flacco? The Raiders and Giants, clearly. Is it thought of sacrilege to counsel that Flacco would have been a greater veteran signing for the Steelers than Russell Wilson?
Hindsight is 20/20. And Joe Flacco is 172/274 for two,143 yards with 18 touchdowns in his final seven video games.
Based on Subsequent Gen Stats, Flacco’s +6.1% CPOE (Completion Share Over Anticipated) ranked because the fifth-best of the week, his +0.18 EPA per dropback was tied for the eighth-best, and he managed these numbers regardless of his receivers rating twenty third in common separation. He was even higher on throws of 10+ air yards, averaging a +9.7% CPOE and going 9-of-15 for 249 yards on these performs.
Flacco went 15-of-18 for 208 yards and two touchdowns off of play motion and he has the fifth-most EPA of any quarterback on play motion regardless of solely enjoying in two video games!
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And the place that Flacco is most definitely to be standing within the subsequent Colts sport is on the sidelines.
It’s not essentially injustice, however it’s mildly insane.
What number of groups might use a quarterback like Joe Flacco this season? About as many because the variety of groups that didn’t name Flacco this offseason.