One taught me love, One taught me patience, One taught me pain
After 10 seasons in Baltimore its time to say thank u, next to Joe Flacco. It was announced today that the quarterback was traded to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a 4th round pick
From the mile-high-miracle to the Troy Polamalu strip sack, Flacco's time in Baltimore was characterized by ups and downs. Flacco became a much maligned player during his time because of his remarkable talent for inconsistency, teetering between terrible, mediocre and great. Sometimes you would get to see all three versions in one game. However, when all is said and done Flacco remains the best quarterback in franchise history with over 38,000 passing yards and 212 touchdowns. More importantly, he brought a period a stability under center and ended the revolving quarterback door that plagued the relatively young franchise.
Sitting in the stands as an 11 year old during his first NFL start, I remember the electricity Flacco pumped into the stadium when he took off up the sideline for a 40 yd run and score against the Bengals. From that moment you could feel the city start to rally behind the rookie as the future of the franchise. Ironically, poor footwork and mobility would become a knock against Flacco as he developed poor pocket presence and awareness as his career progressed.
Despite the criticisms he received, Flacco made his name as a big-bodied deep ball thrower who wasn't afraid to show out in the big game. January Joe, as he became known, gave Ravens' fans a ton of exciting playoff memories, most importantly, his record 2013 playoff run where he finished with 11 touchdowns, no interceptions and a Super Bowl MVP title, a feat only ever done by Joe Montana. Flacco currently sits at 10th all time for quarterback playoff wins and has the potential to take a team to the postseason again if he is surrounded by the right pieces.
The Broncos look to be that team and have many pieces that are similar to the earlier Ravens teams that Flacco excelled with. Flacco is capable but not a superstar by any means, he will need the right players on offense and a top-end defense that will set him up for success. The Broncos already have an aggressive defense capable of forcing turnovers and making scoring hard for opposing teams. On the offensive side they have an emerging young running back with potential in Phillip Lindsay, something Joe hasn't had since Ray Rice. Emmanuel Sanders will be able to stretch the field for the Flacco deep pass and has a more developed route tree and better route running skills than Torrey Smith who was instrumental in the Ravens Super Bowl run in 2013. Courtland Sutton is a young receiver with great size and possession abilities. If he can develop, his size with Flacco's arm could be a great combination in the red zone and getting short, tough yardage.
The Broncos need to sure up the offensive line if they want to get the most out of what they are paying for in Flacco. He clearly has become rattled as a passer under pressure in recent years and needs a solid line in front of him if he wants to look like a capable quarterback once more. Additionally, the Broncos need to add more talent at the tight end position, which has traditionally been a position that receives a large share of Flacco passes. If these two positions are corrected the Broncos could have a successful run over the next few seasons and potentially make some noise in the postseason.
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