Ravens coach John Harbaugh was very happy with his quarterback after Saturday’s win over the Steelers.
“Joe Flacco, what can you say? I think he had a perfect quarterback rating in the third quarter. That’s playoff football. That’s Joe Flacco. he’s the best quarterback in football. We’d take him any day of the week, twice on Sunday -- or Saturday night, if that be the case,” Harbaugh said.
First of all, Harbaugh is wrong: Flacco did not have a perfect passer rating in the third quarter. Flacco threw nine passes in the third quarter, completing eight of them, for 107 yards and a touchdown. That’s a passer rating of 153.2, which is very good, but just short of a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Of course, Flacco also had a fumble in the third quarter and got bailed out by teammate Jeremy Zuttah jumping on it. So Flacco’s third quarter stats may look good, but he was far from flawless in the third quarter.
More importantly, let’s be serious: Joe Flacco is not the best quarterback in the NFL. Or the second best. Or the third best. Or the fourth best. Or the fifth best. Maybe you could put him somewhere in the Top 10. Maybe. Did Harbaugh suffer a case of amnesia right after the Ravens’ Week 16 loss to the Texans? Because anyone who saw that game couldn’t possibly think Flacco is the best quarterback in football.
Flacco played well against the Steelers on Saturday night. We can forgive Harbaugh for being so giddy in the moment that he was incapable of putting Flacco’s play in perspective.