Rob Long: The Joe Flacco 'Elite' Debate Continues
Tuesday on the Vinny and Rob Show the debate about Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco continued. The debate is always over whether or not Flacco is elite or now whether or not he's one of the smarter signal callers in the National Football League.
For some strange reason, I keep looking at the bottom line when it comes to Flacco. We talk about being able to win with a quarterback but when you point out Joe's ability to win, we seem to say "Winning's a team effort".
That's strange, especially when the topic starts off with "Which quarterback would you want in a one game scenario"? Or "Which quarterback would you want with the game on the line"? We even ask, "What quarterback would you draft today if you could do it all over again"? If we are going to look at football as a team sport and the team carries the quarterback shouldn't we be asking "which team would you take?" instead of which QB?
The reason no one asks that question when it comes to quarterbacks is because quarterbacks make a difference and Joe Flacco is a difference making quarterback. The haters will line up to make him look less important and inferior to the "elite" quarterbacks in the league, but Joe does a lot with less than desirable weapons.
There have been different running backs, wide receivers and offensive linemen. The Baltimore Ravens have even lost a couple of Hall Of Fame players in recent years. The one constant on the field for this football team has been number five.
Why it's so tough to give this man the credit that he deserves is beyond me.
I hope that we aren't looking at a classic case of not knowing what you have until it's gone.