Days before the AFC divisional playoffs, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco lamented his Catch-22.
“I’m sure if we win, I’ll have nothing to do with why we won, according to you guys,” Flacco said at his news conference Wednesday.
The 18th overall pick in 2008, Flacco has fulfilled many of the expectations of a franchise quarterback.
He’s a winner, posting a 44-20 record. And he’s durable, not missing a start in his career.
But his performance in the Ravens’ 20-13 victory over the Houston Texans was good, not great. He completed 14 of 27 passes for 176 yards with two touchdown passes and no interceptions.
So for once, I'm going to say the heck with nuance. After watching the national media smack you around like a gang of partygoers taking drunken swings at a unibrowed pinata, I've come to praise you, Joe Flacco, not to bury you. The world beyond Baltimore Beltway seems to think you can't even lace up your cleats properly without stumbling, and it's reached the point of absurdity.
Sometimes I wonder, Joe, why people can't seem to grasp the fact that fantasy football stats don't exactly determine whether or not a player is actually doing his job, or whether he's a good fit for his team. Stats aren't irrelevant, Joe, and I don't want to cast you as a plucky 6-foot-5 football version of David Eckstein. But the idea that baseball statistics and football statistics can be viewed similarly is utterly ridiculous. In baseball, Barry Bonds can be a complete jerk and have an OPS of 1.422 and there is absolutely no doubt he's still the MVP. There is no more valuable person you can put in the line-up in his place, and it doesn't matter if he doesn't speak to anyone or if he refuses to run out ground balls. Intangibles in baseball are overrated. I'll take a guy who can actually hit over a guy who is dubbed "a good clubhouse influence" by the media every single time.
“I’m sure if we win, I’ll have nothing to do with why we won, according to you guys,” Flacco said at his news conference Wednesday.
The 18th overall pick in 2008, Flacco has fulfilled many of the expectations of a franchise quarterback.
He’s a winner, posting a 44-20 record. And he’s durable, not missing a start in his career.
But his performance in the Ravens’ 20-13 victory over the Houston Texans was good, not great. He completed 14 of 27 passes for 176 yards with two touchdown passes and no interceptions.
So for once, I'm going to say the heck with nuance. After watching the national media smack you around like a gang of partygoers taking drunken swings at a unibrowed pinata, I've come to praise you, Joe Flacco, not to bury you. The world beyond Baltimore Beltway seems to think you can't even lace up your cleats properly without stumbling, and it's reached the point of absurdity.
Sometimes I wonder, Joe, why people can't seem to grasp the fact that fantasy football stats don't exactly determine whether or not a player is actually doing his job, or whether he's a good fit for his team. Stats aren't irrelevant, Joe, and I don't want to cast you as a plucky 6-foot-5 football version of David Eckstein. But the idea that baseball statistics and football statistics can be viewed similarly is utterly ridiculous. In baseball, Barry Bonds can be a complete jerk and have an OPS of 1.422 and there is absolutely no doubt he's still the MVP. There is no more valuable person you can put in the line-up in his place, and it doesn't matter if he doesn't speak to anyone or if he refuses to run out ground balls. Intangibles in baseball are overrated. I'll take a guy who can actually hit over a guy who is dubbed "a good clubhouse influence" by the media every single time.
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