Philip Rivers became legendary for playing on a torn ACL in the playoffs.
What Joe Flacco did yesterday might not carry the same importance, but it was just as tough.
Flacco finished yesterday’s Ravens win after suffering a torn ACL and possible MCL, staying on the field to get them in position for a game-winning field goal.
After taking the ball late on Case Keenum’s concussion-aided fumble, Flacco dropped back to pass, but was rolled into by backup left tackle James Hurst, who could hear his quarterback scream as he went down.
“I felt a lot of crunches and stuff like that,” Flacco said, via Jeff Zrebeic of the Baltimore Sun. “I felt a lot of stuff.”
But he stayed in the game, and handed off twice, before stopping the clock to put Justin Tucker in position for the game-winning field goal.
“I didn’t know what was wrong,” Flacco said. “The fact that I was able to hop up and head toward the sideline, I said, ‘Oh OK, let’s hang out here and see what I can do.’ I don’t know if that’s the best thing, but it’s just a reaction.”
Others viewed it differently.
“He completed the whole series with two completely torn ligaments and stayed on the field with the clock running, because he knew if he comes off, now we have clock issues,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He stays out there, gets the run that pops it, puts us in better field-goal range and then runs the clock down.
“I think it was a courageous performance by Joe at the end.”
Of course, it will now put him on injured reserve, alongside stars such as Steve Smith and Terrell Suggs, torpedoing what was left of the Ravens season (such that they hadn’t already).
The Ravens also lost running back Justin Forsett to a broken arm yesterday, adding him to the long list that includes Smith, Suggs, first-round pick Breshad Perriman and center Jerry Zuttah out for the year with injuries.