Filed under: Ravens, AFC NorthWith all the hope and hype for the Baltimore Ravens (3-1) as Super Bowl contenders because of their defense and the new offensive acquisitions the organization has made during the course of the offseason and training camp, it was forgotten that quarterback Joe Flacco is still young and is only in his third season as an NFL starting signal caller.
When Flacco arrived in Baltimore as a first-round NFL Draft pick in 2008 he experienced great success right away, thanks to the creativity of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and a world-class defense to back him.
But Flacco is extremely talented in his own right and, other than Derrick Mason, Flacco has shown his ability with subpar receivers around him. It's been proven in Baltimore that having a solid defense mixed with a little imagination offensively, a quarterback still can fail.
Despite Flacco's early success, a success Peyton Manning didn't experience at the start of his career, many Ravens fans appear to not be a believer in him. Ravens fans went from saluting Flacco at the beginning of the season to wanting to crucify him two weeks ago for throwing four interceptions in the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals (2-2).
After Flacco's heroic performance in dramatic fashion to get his first victory at Heinz Field against the hated Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1) on Sunday, Ravens fans wanted to sing "Hosanna" to him as if he was riding on a colt.
Baltimore fans are very knowledgeable about football, but they are unstable in their support of the young star. Flacco is learning his new passing threats in wide receivers Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmanzadeh. The best thing about adding veterans to support pass catchers in Mason and Todd Heap, Flacco finally has a collective group of receivers who attack the ball with their hands instead of waiting for the ball to come into their bodies.
That adjustment in veteran catchers extending their hands to grab the ball out of the air allows Flacco to be successful in his pass attempts, preventing defenders from batting balls away.
The victory over the Browns helped Flacco greatly and his performance against the Ravens' greatest rival, the Steelers, will boost his confidence even more. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
No comments:
Post a Comment