The Maryland Sports Blog

The Baltimore Ravens have signed quarterback Joe Flacco to a six year deal. I had no doubt in my mind that the Ravens were going to get this deal done before they had to use the franchise tag. Here is the Ravens press release detailing the contract, this has all the details.

RAVENS SIGN QB JOE FLACCO TO LONG-TERM CONTRACT

 

The Baltimore Ravens have signed QB Joe Flacco to a six-year contract, general manager/executive vice president Ozzie Newsome announced Monday afternoon.

 

“We just returned from the Combine, and I remember the days of going there and studying and hoping that one of the quarterbacks could be our guy. ‘Could so-and-so be our third-round Joe Montana or our sixth-round Tom Brady?’ We’ve been out in that desert before,” Newsome recalled. “That all changed when we drafted Joe in 2008, and now we’ve secured him for many more years. Joe’s a Raven in his style of play, the way he works and prepares, and the way he lives his life. He’s a significant reason we’ve been to the playoffs five years in a row, played in three AFC Championship games, and now, we are the Super Bowl champs with Joe as MVP.

 

“We appreciate the way Joe handled these negotiations, and that includes his agent Joe Linta,” Newsome added.

 

Head coach John Harbaugh reacted to the Flacco signing by saying: “I’m very happy for Joe, his family and our fans. He has been our quarterback since Day One, and we’ve had confidence in him since the beginning. Joe is a tremendous competitor and highly motivated to be the best. He’s a leader for us and a great teammate. He understands that we have more to accomplish, and we intend to do that. Having Joe with us certainly gives a better opportunity to succeed.”

 

Flacco, 28, is a five-year veteran who was named the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII after helping the Ravens to their second World Championship in franchise history. With Flacco, the Ravens are the only NFL club to secure a postseason berth in each of the last five seasons (2008-12), winning at least one playoff game in each of those years.

 

Starting all 80 regular season games of his NFL career, Flacco has completed 1,507 of 2,489 passes for 17,633 yards, 102 touchdowns and 56 interceptions since being selected by Baltimore with the 18th-overall pick in the 2008 Draft. His 63 total wins (including playoffs) since entering the league rank as the NFL’s most among all quarterbacks.

 

Flacco is the first starting quarterback in NFL history (since the 1970 merger) to make the playoffs in each of his first five seasons, compiling nine playoff victories, which tie (Tom Brady) for the most among quarterbacks in the first five seasons of a career.

 

With a three-touchdown performance in Super Bowl XLVII, Flacco threw 11 touchdown passes during the 2012 postseason, tying the NFL single-postseason record shared by Joe Montana (1989) and Kurt Warner (2008). Flacco and Montana did not throw an interception during those respective postseasons.

 

Below are several notes/highlights in Flacco’s career:

 

·         Flacco is the Ravens’ all-time leading passer in yards (17,633), TD passes (102), completions (1,507) and attempts (2,489) and is second in completion percentage (60.5).

·         In 2012, Flacco was named to USA Today’s All-Joe Team (players who are critical to their team, but don’t receive Pro Bowl nods) after posting career highs in passing yards (3,817 – second in franchise history: Vinny Testaverde, 4,177 in 1996) and completions (317 – second most in franchise history: Testaverde, 325 in 1996), while throwing 22 TD passes.

·         In 2012, the Ravens scored the most points (398) in franchise history and posted the second-most total yards (5,640) in team history (5,723 in 1996). Flacco also rushed for a career-high 3 TDs.

·         Flacco’s 63 wins (including playoffs) are the most by an NFL starting QB since 2008, when he entered the league.

·         Among all NFL quarterbacks since 2008, Flacco has produced an NFL-high 27 total road wins (including playoffs). Eli Manning and Aaron Rodgers are second with 24 road wins during that span.

·         Having never missed a contest, Flacco has started every game of his career, with his 93 NFL starts (including playoffs) the most to begin a career by a QB in NFL history.

·         Became the second QB in NFL postseason history (Joe Montana – 1989) to throw 11 TDs and 0 INTs in 2012.

·         Flacco is the only starting quarterback in NFL history (since the 1970 merger) to win a playoff game in each of his first five seasons (2008-12).

·         Set the Ravens’ single-season record for completion percentage (63.1) in 2009 and QB rating (93.6) in 2010, while his 25 passing TDs in 2010 and 3,817 passing yards in 2012 rank as the second most in Ravens single-season history.

·         Owns the Ravens’ franchise record for 300-yard passing games (13).

·         Became the first rookie QB in NFL history to win two playoff games; the second in the 2008 Divisional Playoff win at No. 1 seed Ten. (1/10/09).

·         The tandem of John Harbaugh and Flacco, which in 2008 set the NFL record for most wins ever (13, including playoffs) by a rookie head coach starting a rookie QB, now own the league mark for earning the playoffs in their first five seasons.

·         Flacco has led the Ravens to 33 career regular season wins at home, tied for the most among NFL starting quarterbacks since 2008 (Matt Ryan).

·         In each of the past four seasons (2009-12), Flacco and Aaron Rodgers are the only NFL quarterbacks to throw for at least 3,600 yards and 20 TDs while posting 12 INTs or less.

 

The Baltimore Ravens are National Football League Champions for the second time in franchise history.  They defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 after a bizarre game.  Quarterback Joe Flacco was the Super Bowl MVP and has pretty much silenced all critics.

It was truly a story book ending to Ray Lewis’ 17 year career.  Oh and the Ravens got their first Hall of Famer in Jonathan Ogden who was the Ravens first ever draft pick.

Not with out some controversy in the game, the power went out for 34 minutes and the 49ers started to come back. If the power never went out the 49ers probably would have never made a comeback the Ravens were clearly dominating in all phases of the game.

There was also some none calls like a blast that Flacco took on a 3rd down play, not only was it a late hit Flacco was outside the markers.  The call that is getting all the attention is Jimmy Smith’s non call on a holding in the endzone. In my opinion, the flag should not have been thrown the ball was not catch-able and calls were missed on both sides.

The Ravens are still a young franchise but the history has been bright.  How many sports teams have two championships and no Hall of Famers?

THE RAVENS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!

The underdog Baltimore Ravens have done it again, winning on the road in the playoffs.  The Ravens beat the New England Patriots 28-13 as the Ravens came alive in the second half.  Too many headlines could be said about this game but Ray Lewis’ ride continues.

The Ravens put the game in Joe Flacco’s hands in the second half and told him to play.  The Ravens went no huddle and in the shotgun for just about the entire second half and boy oh boy did Flacco deliver.  Flacco was nearly unstoppable passing for three touchdowns in the second half.  Flacco’s final qb rating was 106.3 clearly out dueling Tom Brady’s 62.3 rating.  Flacco has finally silenced all critics and become elite.

I could go on forever about the numbers and who did what but lets enjoy this win. The Ravens will face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, it will be a tough match-up but this is a team of destiny.

THE RAVENS ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!! KEEP SAYING IT

By now we all know that the Baltimore Ravens beat the Denver Broncos in a double overtime thriller, 38-35.  It was a game that I personally will always remember, one of the greatest football games I have ever watched.

Against all odds the Ravens went to Denver on short rest and faced the number one seed who had a bye week.  What was more impressive was how well Joe Flacco played in Denver with the lighter football.  I was expecting Flacco to be a little inaccurate but he was extremely sharp.

The defense figured Manning out in the second half and overtime and really helped turn the game around.  The Ravens were able to overcome two special teams touchdowns and had contributions from everyone.

Torrey Smith had two giant touchdowns and Jacoby Jones had what many people are calling a Hail Mary touchdown.  Flacco hit Jones for a 70-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute remaining.

The unsung hero of the game was Corey Graham who picked off Peyton Manning twice and returned one for a touchdown.

I could go on and on about this game but it was simply fantastic.  The effort the Ravens gave was outstanding, the never give up attitude showed up big time.  Hopefully the Ravens can ride this games momentum to the Superbowl.

I have not had time to do much blogging as of late and have not done a report card in a few weeks. Well let’s get right into it.

Quarterbacks: Joe Flacco was sharp the entire game, his final quarterback rating was 114.2. Flacco had two touchdown passes and no interceptions and also had a rushing touchdown. Six different players had receptions from Flacco. The biggest difference was that Flacco had protection and time to throw the ball. Grade A

Running backs: Ray Rice, Bernard Pierce and Anthony Allen all saw action and all contributed. Pierce had a giant (no pun intended) 78-yard run to help end the game, he ended up with a career high 123 yards rushing. Rice also broke 100-yards rushing and contributed with a 27-yard reception for a touchdown. Grade A

Receivers: The receivers played well even though they did not get great separation they too advantage of their match ups. Anquan Boldin had 7 receptions for 93 yards and made some tough catches. Torrey Smith also had a great game scoring a touchdown. Grade B+

Offensive Line: The offensive line had their best game all season. They did not allow a sack and gave Flacco plenty of time. Grade A