Lots of angst in Baltimore over the Ravens loss to the Steelers on Saturday in Pittsburgh in their Divisional Playoff game. Most of the blame is being placed on the shoulders of QB Joe Flacco. It think some of it is misplaced. I'm not going to apologize for the terrible overthrow of Todd Heap that was picked off by Ryan Clark. But Joe didn't cause the fumble he will get credit for in the statistics. Replays showed that Center Matt Birk snapped the ball into his own left leg. Tough to blame on the QB. Despite all those troubles Flacco had in the 3rd quarter he was spot on with 2 throws in the 4th quarter that could have set up the Ravens to win or tie the game. The passes to Q & Housh were perfect. The veteran receivers dropped the balls...can't blame those on #5. Flacco has gotten better every season he has been in Baltimore. Yes he holds the ball too long sometimes...yes he locks onto receivers and misses wide open guys but that is part of the development of a quarterback. I looked up a number of Hall of Famers and their development. Most of the HOF QB's won their 1st Super Bowl/League title by their 5th year. Plenty of great QB's have NEVER won a Super Bowl. Please note that Dan Marino is in Canton without a SB Ring. Same for Warren Moon and Dan Fouts. Sometimes all the pieces have to fall in the right place. Ask yourself how Tom Brady feels today. He was on the path to another Super Bowl appearance this year and up jumped the Jets. A few years ago his team was UNDEFEATED in the regular season but lost in the Super Bowl. We don't think any less of him.
Some things didn't bounce the Ravens way on Saturday. A Ticky-tac penalty on Webb's punt return for a touchdown, Chris Carr lets a rookie Wide Receiver get behind him on the Steelers game winning drive, 2 veteran Receivers drop easy balls. Stuff Happens...that's why they play the games.
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