Maybe Flacco should apologize to the media now.

Well said. I love those wild plays Ben makes, but you can’t plan things like that. And the frustrating thing about him is that he hasn’t worked as hard as he should have through the years because he tends to believe his own mythology–that he’ll make miracles. As he gets older and suffers more injuries–well, we’re already seeing that it’s harder for him to create those miracle plays. That’s where the diligent preparation comes in–if he does it. Now we’ll find out how good he really is.

@bunkmcnulty …

Being in Fla., I’m surrounded by fans of every stripe. On the college front, this is Gator country–though I have quite a few Tide fans to keep me company. But on the pro side, it’s a total mixed bag. I’ll never forget walking into church on the day of SBXL and seeing a family that had just moved in wearing Seahawks jackets. That just irritated me to death LOL

What I think is trying to be said here is that we don’t want Flacco to be Ben, but we want him to extend plays and make something out of nothing like Ben does and Ben is probably the best in the league at doing that. You are taking this whole thing way too seriously, and honestly if I had the choice between Ben and Flacco I’d probably take Ben. Now having said that in the next year or two I think Flacco will surpass Ben and I would not make that trade, but right now at this moment I would make that trade in a heartbeat. And in the future please don’t try to speak for other Ravens fans, just speak for yourself.

You know Deb, I listened to a sports talk show one day (maybe a year ago) where they defined the ultimate sense of rivalry was just beating your rival, not winning a title. I have to confess, if the Ravens won just 2 games a year, and they were both against the Steelers, I would have some satisfaction in that. But now that we’re this close this year, just winning the whole thing would be nice.

For me, it’s because I live in an area in MD with way too many Steeler fans. Oh my goodness I wish Pittsburgh could retain some of it’s native sons and daughters. When it comes to football, I don’t want them where I am.

True. I’m a good sport and all that, but I’ll whomp on your head if you mess with my teams

@noquickreactionshere …

Oh, I can take it. I’m just going to give it right back I don’t think all Ravens fans expect Joe to be Ben. But there’s a contingent that will never be satisfied with Joe until he matches the accomplishments of the guy who put the Ravens’ arch-enemies back in the Super Bowl. They’re not measuring Joe against stat books or wins or even Brady. They’re measuring him against the cross-divisional rival who’s pulled victory from the Jaws of defeat by making wild tackles after a fumble and throwing last-second passes in the corner of the end zone. My only point was that it’s an unfair, irrational comparison.

I’m a lifelong Bama fan and have been listening to LSU idiots tell me for months that Les Miles walks on water and has surpassed Nick Saban–the coach that left them behind. The second they lost to us in the championship game, they started calling for Les’s head on a platter. Not all LSU fans, but the childlike ones. It’s that same mentality. They care more about him beating Saban than winning the title. That’s what I was talking about. I can’t help it if you don’t get it.

I see you have proved you are the bigger person with your decision to start the very mature argument style of name calling. Good job

You said:

“It’s probably more accurate to say some Ravens fans expect him to be Roethlisberger and come up with seat-of-the-pants plays. ”

I said that is not accurate… it’s not out of context, your words say that you feel Ravens fans expect Joe to be Ben. That is not true, when you were called out on this you changed your comment to say Ravens fans want Joe to best Ben. Now you are back to saying that Ravens fans want Joe to “be like” Ben. Just admit you misspoke and we can move on.

And yes, I can be a jerk, rude, arrogant, smug, but it is usually all in good fun, some people can’t handle that so I appologize for that.

That is all for now

You are still a homer and there is nothing wrong with that. You support your team well. I admire that about you.

You also are often able to admit when you are wrong – example: The comments you made in this article, after you realized you were duped.

I also think it is rather humorous that you accuse noquickreactionshere of taking your comments out of context, when we are all replying to an article that took someone’s comments out of context.

In your ongoing theme of being a jerk, you’ve taken the “be” comment out of context. charmcityravens posted “I think [it's Joe's] aspiration to be like Big Ben and make something out of nothing at the last minute.” I responded that it’s not his aspiration to be like Ben in seat-of-the-pants play, it’s the aspiration of fans that he be like Ben in seat-of-the-pants play. It was a very specific reference to Ben’s reputation for being able to create something from nothing and poof! a there’s the Lombardi.

You can’t grasp the complexity of the comment because you’re too busy trying to prove the inaccurate point that I’m a typical Steelers fan who thinks the Steelers are the center of the universe–even though a thoughtful, Ravens regular on this blog has told you that’s not the case. Gee, I’m glad you’re not quick with your reactions. I’d hate to see how big an ass you’d make of yourself if you were knee-jerking

Flacco’s stats don’t tell the entire story. He improved his post season performance 10 fold last year. And I expect that trend to continue this year.

Sanchez has had nice stats in the post season, I’ll give him that but its a much smaller sample size to view when your comparing players.

Look at Matt Ryan’s post season stats, surely you don’t think Sanchez is a better player than him.

Peyton Mannings post season stats were not that great his first few years in the league either. I certainly don’t want Sanchez over him.

Bottomline, Sanchez isn’t in Flacco’s league and I’d bet every dollar in my pocket that if given the chance Rex would swap them today.

“I said Joe is expected to best Roethlisberger, not be Roethlisberger”

“It’s probably more accurate to say some Ravens fans expect him to be Roethlisberger and come up with seat-of-the-pants plays. ”

Both quoted from your post, let me know which one is how you feel and I will let you know if I agree with you or not.

With your logic on statistics I don’t know why I wasn’t drafted in the first round of the MLB draft the year I batted .556 (5 hits in 9AB) in college. No one in the first round came close to my batting average. I even had a 1.000 steal success. Those baseball scouts were fools.

In ten years we can look back to see if Flacco or Sanchez fared better; but until then, using such a small sample is a Mark Twain-type lie.

You’re right–I just read this article and not Joe’s actual comments. Have got to quit biting on this stuff because I know better. They’ve even gotten me to bite on posts about our guys

@bunkmcnulty …

Thanks You read me correctly. noquickreactionshere must be new to the thread. I said Joe is expected to best Roethlisberger, not be Roethlisberger. And no, I don’t think the world revolves around the Steelers. But I do think no matter what he achieves, Flacco will always be criticized by a certain faction unless he can bring home a Lombardi like Ben has. And that’s unfair.

Yes, the QB is a big part of the championship equation–but he’s not the only part. If he were, Marino would have a ring. As we go through this process every year, I’m reminded that getting a team to that podium is like managing the safe homecoming of the astronauts in Apollo 13. Everything has to go exactly right at exactly the right moment. Your playoff loss to Pittsburgh last year turned on a perfectly thrown pass that was dropped by Housh. No way that can be laid on Flacco. But people forget that drop when enumerating the years Flacco failed to make the Big One. As always, QBs take the blame whether or not it’s deserved.

Flacco’s not an elite QB–nor is he as good as Ben (But then Ben isn’t as good as he should be, considering his natural gifts.) But Joe’s hard-working and consistent. And I’ll bet at least half the teams in the league would take him in a heartbeat.

If you look at Sanchez through the years, you can tell he’s not a thread the needle precision passer, but that’s exactly the mold that the Son of Marty tried to stuff him into. He has to throw precision passes all day, while 350 pound linemen are blowing through our turnstile RT, and trying to murder him. Sanchez can throw a pretty nice deep ball though, but we almost never let him until the game is out of reach. Wanna know a really gross stat? Tim Tebow completed more 40+ yard plays in one game then Sanchez did all year, and that’s NOT Sanchez’s fault. Mostly, anyway. Screens are few and far between. Slants are constant. Often the ball is just checked down to Greene anyway because Sanchez is so beaten down by fear of making a mistake. When the Jets offense lines up on the field, it says to the defense “OK, just defend 20 yards.” Braylon Edwards was our deep threat, the guy who kept all the heat off Santonio so he could do his thing, and we lost him. Our drives often are either “Pass, run, run, punt” or “Run, run, pass, punt.” I could go on all day.

I don’t know where either players ceiling is, but I do know that Sanchez has a ton of untapped potential that I don’t know if we’ll ever see because 3 years of stupidity and bad decisions hampered his growth terribly, and the media is unfairly eating him alive.

Show us where Flacco was declared a failure at every opportunity during the early stages of his career, and your bitterness would be justified.

Until then, keep crying. Your tears taste delicious.

Joe’s stats this year, call me out in a few weeks if I’m wrong

(Cop out here, if the Broncos find some way to get past the pats I’ll go with 16-25 190 1TD 0INT against Denver)

I agree. I love that Joe never discusses his health. I don’t live in the past, but his rookie year going into the playoffs, the dude was really banged up. Never once complained. Never once used it as an excuse. I do love Joe’s toughness and the fact that he never discusses aches and pains.

First… great name…

I agree in part I do however feel that Deb is like many steeler fans who think that the NFL revolves around the Steelers. If we want Joe to be better we automatically want him to be Ben. I find it funny that every time an article like this comes out the Steelers and Ben are brought into the conversation. This article has nothing to do with the Steelers, it is just a funny comment that Joe made which has been taken out of context. First time I heard him say this I laughed and thought “good one Joe” didn’t even see the comments going out of context like this.

As a Ravens fan I want Joe to be Joe, I think he is a better passer than Ben, the difference between the two is that Ben has the ability to extend the play. Teams (San Fran, Houston, Baltimore, Denver) are starting to realize that if you can keep him in the pocket (easier said than done) you can shut him down. Joe can stand in the pocket, take hits without telling everyone about every little ache and pain he goes through, and make throws. That is what I want in a QB.

You’re reading Deb wrong. As a Ravens fan, I feel she’s the most fair minded Steelers fan I have seen on PFT. The press makes Joe out to be a whiner. And a lot of people have latched on to that.

And I think she said Baltimore fans want Joe to “best” Roethlisberger, which Joe did this year. I think too, we’d like Flacco to have Ben’s overall success, not necessarily his exact style. I’d argue Ben’s style gets him injured way too often, especially with the o-line they had this year.

Believe me, I am not quick to protect Steeler fans. But Deb is fair.

Yea, I completely agree. Unfortunately, %90 of the people here just read the title of the article and posted their response. It’s funny and actually a little sad that people are arguing about Joe being an elite QB when in the interview he even admitted that he was not.

Everyone take your ADHD meds. Take a deep breath and read. Maybe, just maybe go read the entire interview or even listen to it and gain the full context of the subject. I promise you will feel a bit foolish for some of the stuff you are arguing about, because you just read the title of this article and then left a reply.

You and a couple of other Steeler fans on her really do draw my respect. You do give Joe “fair” analysis.

He is far from Kyle Boller 2.0 (which was one comment from a less fair Steeler fan months ago I think I detested the most). But at the same time, he is not elite and he is not Roethlisberger. And I agree that most Ravens fans want him to be better than Ben most of all (probably me included).

These out of context quotes make for better headlines the the actual truth of an interview. But isn’t that really the fodder for PFT? Sensationalism! And PFT, it’s not just you. It’s the 4 letter and everyone else in your industry.

My best advice for Joe. Shut up and try to beat the hell out of the teams you play. The rest takes care of itself.

Typical self absorbed pitt fan assuming that everything is about Ben and the Steelers. If you knew Baltimore fans you would know that very few Baltimore fans (if any) want Joe to be more like Ben, or to be Ben. You never hear that he is “not Ben” you hear that he is “not Rodgers, Not Brady, Not Breese” but nobody compares or wants to compare him to Ben. Reality is that your boy is an exceptional talent who has the ability to use his size and athleticism to extend plays and do things nobody else can do. If you contain him in the pocked he is an average quarterback. Look at Pittsburgh losses, teams that can keep him in the pocket (or when he is injured and can’t get out of the pocket) have great success against him.

Baltimore fans do not want Joe to stand around, extend plays, hold the ball, and be like Ben. Baltimore fans (and probably coaches) want Joe to be more decisive, read a play, and make a quick accurate throw…. that is not Ben. Everything that happens in the NFL is not about your team. Nobody here wants Ben and nobody wants Joe to be like Ben. I don’t compare him to other people but if I were forced to I would say the best comparison would be Eli Manning. If you look at Eli’s stats his firt 4 years Joe’s are actually better.

Also to all the people talking about Joe “whining” you don’t get him. He has a very dry sense of humor and likes to joke a lot. If you saw the video of this interview you would never think he was whining. He was making a joke with some members of the media… he laughed…. they laughed. Get over it.

That is all…

Joe has had a tough year. First season with no QB coach. Pretty major changes in receivers (his security blanket was Mason and Heap, both gone). I think there are issues at times between he and Cameron. But those are excuses. If you are great you overcome these things. Other QBs do. So statistically this has not been a great year. I think you see that frustration in Joe’s remarks.

At the end of day, Joe draws criticism because of success. I like the parallel drawn above to Eli. They both are more quiet leaders (not rah, rah guys). Eli, earlier in his career would throw a stinker or two out there too. He is much more reliable now and of course won a SB. If Joe can match that (and that is IF) that will prove to be a great comparison.

Last, don’t forget Joe is a Jersey boy at his core. Not many people where he from take criticism after criticism without striking back with some sort of in your face comments. He will take it for a long time until he lashes back…just ask from Derick Mason.

*not sure why my comment got flagged the first time around…

Flacco has had an off year. There is no denying that but looking at his career as a whole vs. Mark Sanchez proves they are not in the same ball park. Flacco is far more consistent and he’s actually done better. Flacco didn’t play well THIS season. Sanchez’s THIS season is pretty much how his entire career to this point has gone.

There is a far greater chance that Flacco will bounce back than there is that Sanchez will actually improve.

The media love controversy and they love nothing better than to misconstrue what people say to get people talking. Flacco is not a whiner.

It’s probably more accurate to say some Ravens fans expect him to be Roethlisberger and come up with seat-of-the-pants plays. He’s probably criticized more for not being Ben than for being ineffective. Joe gets it done–that’s why he’s been in the playoffs every year since he came into the league. But the expectation for him isn’t to do his job–it’s to best Roethlisberger.

Seriously, this guy has some self-esteem issues if he needs constant positive reinforcement to function.

How the heck do you defend Flacco by saying Ryan is a choke artist in the playoffs? You are giving the other side of the argument more ammunition. If you think Ryan is a choke artist in the playoffs, what does that make Joe Flacco, a bigger joke artist in crunch time? Flacco is even worse than Ryan in the playoffs, the individual stats done lie! Look them up if you need to. The only difference is their postseason W-L record, and thats what all the Flacco detractors are saying, that the Ravens win in spite of him in the postseason. Theres no way to defend that. Someone who has 4 td to 7 int’s and just over a 60+ qb rating cant possibly be helping a team win, and in fact is hurting his team tremendously. The ravens have a much better defense and offensive line than the Falcons, thats why they are able to win games in the playoffs in spite of him.