Skip Bayless' article about Joe

[SugarRay52]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/88...ens-joe-flacco

Typical Bayless so no surprises but I am a little surprised that ESPN let him write again, I thought he was banned from writing LOL.

[ivanbalt]

And if he again outplays Tom Brady in the AFC title game at Gillette Stadium, please hide the razor blades for me.

This about sums up his opinion.

[SugarRay52]

This about sums up his opinion.

He may be picking the Pats to win this game and the Superbowl but I can sense that he's not as confident in that prediction compared to last year. I just find it funny that he picks on Joe but goes above and beyond to defend Cutler and Romo although he finally gave up on Romo after his choke job against the Skins.

[ivanbalt]

He may be picking the Pats to win this game and the Superbowl but I can sense that he's not as confident in that prediction compared to last year. I just find it funny that he picks on Joe but goes above and beyond to defend Cutler and Romo although he finally gave up on Romo after his choke job against the Skins.

He also said the Jets probably would have made the playoffs with Tebow at the helm.

[NCBirdfan]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/88...ens-joe-flacco

Typical Bayless so no surprises but I am a little surprised that ESPN let him write again, I thought he was banned from writing LOL.

I don't have to read the article. It's the same old garbage every time. If I link to it, he benefits. He's like that kid in school starving for attention. He'll get it one way or another.

How Skip Clueless has a job is beyond reason. He is one of the laziest sports people out there. He don't need no stinkin' facts to back his opining, because doing that would take effort.

[LarryN]

ESPN must pay their writers extra every time the use "QBR" in an article.

[NCBirdfan]

ESPN must pay their writers extra every time the use "QBR" in an article.

I've read in another forum that according to ESPN's ratings, Flacco is ranked 25th. That sounds about right, don'tcha think?

[Aclobat]

"Joe Flacco, the unRaven, is on his way to becoming the greatest worst quarterback ever. He hasn't made a Pro Bowl and I doubt he ever will. But in their past two meetings, Flacco has owned Tom Brady."

This guy writes like a roller coaster.

[SugarRay52]

I don't have to read the article. It's the same old garbage every time. If I link to it, he benefits. He's like that kid in school starving for attention. He'll get it one way or another.

How Skip Clueless has a job is beyond reason. He is one of the laziest sports people out there. He don't need no stinkin' facts to back his opining, because doing that would take effort.

I will admit that I got sucked in and gave him what he wants, attention. He seems to be more open when he writes as opposed to when he's on camera but he's still the same attention whore either way (remember the days he covered the 90's Cowboys). I notice that he never mentions Cam Cameron's (who got rejected by the Jets LOL)role in Joe's struggles, it's always Joe's fault when everything goes wrong (no matter what happens). In his heart of hearts (he always says that to Suggs about Joe) he knows that Joe could make him look foolish come Sunday and he will get some backlash from Ravens fans who choose to attack him on twitter (I won't, not worth my time).

[SugarRay52]

"Joe Flacco, the unRaven, is on his way to becoming the greatest worst quarterback ever. He hasn't made a Pro Bowl and I doubt he ever will. But in their past two meetings, Flacco has owned Tom Brady."

This guy writes like a roller coaster.

I find it funny that he keeps calling Joe the UnRaven when in fact he's the perfect Raven. He treats Joe like he does Mark Sanchez who he calls the UnJet which is obviously true, Skip like a lot of media fools don't understand Joe.

[Purplepea]

Well skip the dip if your simple veiw on flacco's did you see in just 5 years he has more wins then Peyton had at the same time of his career . I think no one will listens to you unless make a bunch of stuff up leave the whole truth to get your stretched image ofbthevtruth.We know how good Joe is he play's his heart out every game But beeping from baltimore we relalize that the defense get paid too every game as a player they like to put the numbers up ,but joe know's why chance it if we have the game under control The Houston game was the first game after dam the cam left so a little bit you might have added to your skimpy skippy shank

[Purplepea]

All year long the raven defense was rate in the 20's how in the heck did a 25 rated quater back with a 20 th rated defense make it to the afc championship game maybe SHIP THE DIP could expain this mind boogieing feet I guess the ref's just like us a lot oh yeah we almost lead the league in personal fouls

[elj1201]

don't give him the page views he doesn't deserve it

I have called him Fluke-o. And I have been right and very wrong.

I have called Joe Flacco the Baltimore Ravens' weakest link. And once again last Saturday, when least expected, he was their greatest strength.

This season Flacco played the two worst statistical games of any NFL quarterback -- historically horrendous games. Yet now, fresh off outplaying Peyton Manning in Denver, he returns to the same Foxborough, Mass., stadium in which he outplayed Tom Brady in last year's AFC Championship Game. Yes, Joe Flacco went Joe Montana on two of the greatest QBs ever in big playoff games in their stadiums.

Fluke-o is now 7-4 in the postseason with five road wins, tied for all-time best with Eli Manning and Roger Staubach. In his past six playoff games (four on the road) he has thrown 12 touchdown passes to just two interceptions. Yet …

Forgive me, Ravens fans, I'm still not buying your No. 5. I still think Flacco will prove to be more Achilles' heel than mighty warrior Achilles. As expectations rise toward Sunday's AFC title game and Flacco hears and reads about how he finally has proved to be what he and his agent have insisted he is -- ELITE! -- he'll feel pressure like never before and turn back into Fluke-o.

Be careful what you wish for, Joe. You won't be able to sneak up on this game.

But yes, I admit this is to some degree wishful thinking. For the second season in a row I picked New England to win the Super Bowl. And now Flacco, the best worst quarterback I've ever attempted to decipher, is starting to haunt me.

First Take

First Take Tune in to "First Take" to see Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith debate the hottest topics in sports, every Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN2. Embrace Debate! »
Yes, Ravens fans, in a 31-30 win in Baltimore early this season, Flacco (28-39 for 382 yards, 3 TDs, 1 interception) AGAIN outgunned Brady (28-41 for 335, 1 TD, 0 picks). So maybe it's slightly possible I'm underrating.

NO. He's far more Fluke-o than Montana. The oddsmakers confirm it.

With Ray Lewis (triceps surgery) all but raising himself from the NFL dead and inspiring and spearheading a Ravens D long on fearless savvy, that defense is now a little better than New England's (which did allow 425 yards and 28 points to Houston at home last Sunday). And without Rob Gronkowski, who re-broke his forearm (and possibly my Super Bowl prediction), the Patriots don't have quite the weapons the Ravens do in Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin, Jacoby Jones, Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson.

So how could the Patriots possibly be 9½-point favorites over a team that did everything but beat them in this game a year ago? Simple: The oddsmakers still trust Brady far more than they do Flacco … even though, I must admit, Flacco's perfectly thrown TD pass to Lee Evans last year nearly sent Baltimore to the Super Bowl seconds before Billy Cundiff's rushed/hooked 32-yard field goal, one of the worst choke jobs in NFL playoff history, robbed the Ravens of even a shot at overtime.

Yet remember the internal controversy the Ravens faced this very week a year ago? The day after their dangerously difficult 23-20 home playoff win over third-string Texans QB T.J. Yates, the great Ed Reed criticized Flacco in a SiriusXM NFL Radio interview, saying "I think Joe was kind of rattled a little bit … it just didn't look like he had a hold of the offense."

The most telling quarterback stat is QBR, a scale of 0-100. Flacco's was a sorry 18.7 to Yates' 15.6.

This reminded me of a Ravens playoff loss two years ago in Pittsburgh. They led 21-7 at half. But they needed Terrible Towels to wipe up the mess Flacco made in the third quarter with an interception and lost fumble. The Steelers won 31-24. Flacco threw for a mere 125 yards with a QBR of 18.8 (and yes, I remember the two killer drops he suffered in the fourth quarter).

I was later told by a Steelers player that on the field after the game, he and several teammates talked with several Ravens stars who said they would never go far in the playoffs with Flacco at quarterback.

More than just in performance, Flacco has never quite seemed to fit as a Raven. In a team picture of men you do not mess with -- Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata -- Flacco is a glaringly obvious Waldo. It's as if "The Expendables" chose a gangly new 6-foot-6 leader from "Revenge of the Nerds." On a team fueled by RayLew's fire-and-brimstone emotion, a team that talks tough and plays tougher, the guy playing the leadership position -- the quarterback -- comes off as an emotionless cipher. Flacco acts more like the punter.

Still, Flacco as nothing more than a "game manager" has always benefited from low to no expectations. To quote the movie title: "The Benefits of Being a Wallflower."

But the Ravens' up/down confidence in Flacco has made for several epic "First Take" debates between me and my frenemy Terrell Suggs, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He knows that I know that he knows his team doesn't always trust Flacco. But I also know Flacco has grown on the Ravens with clutch late-game performances. In the regular season, his touchdown passes beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh in 2010 with 32 seconds left and in 2011 with eight seconds left.

Flacco, or Fluke-o, has often given Suggs or me extreme debate advantage.

Yet it's significant Suggs always calls his QB "Cool Joe" instead of the usual "Joe Cool." There is nothing particularly cool about the off-field Flacco. I've met him -- seems like a nice, fairly quiet guy. OK, he occasionally gets a little defensive about his lack of respect. But on the field, Flacco never appears rattled even while playing rattled. Hence: Cool Joe.

Prior to last year's AFC title game, ESPN analysts I spoke with all agreed that Flacco's biggest issue was self-confidence. Though drafted 18th overall, he wasn't able to build much NFL-quality confidence at Delaware, where his Fightin' Blue Hens twice lost to New Hampshire. But after Flacco outplayed Brady in Foxborough, those analysts believed he never again would doubt himself. This, I kept hearing, was an "elite" breakthrough.

And this season at Houston, Flacco recorded the lowest QBR since the stat was first used in 2008 -- 0.3! Say what, T-Sizzle? Against the same Texans in Houston, Aaron Rodgers had a QBR of 95.8. Suggs might be able to score a 0.3 playing quarterback with his torn biceps tendon. The Ravens lost that game 43-13.

[+] EnlargeTerrell Suggs
Jake Roth/USA TODAY SportsTerrell Suggs looks at Flacco and usually likes what he sees.
Then at home against Peyton's Broncos, Flacco managed the second-worst QBR ever -- 0.4! Denver led 31-3 on the way to a 34-17 cakewalk that helped make the Broncos 9-point home favorites over Fluke-o last Saturday. And of course, when least expected, Flacco stepped smartly up through the rush and used the NFL's strongest deep-ball arm to launch a missile up through the thin air that took poor Rahim Moore, the Broncos safety, by surprise. Seventy yards later, it was 35-all with 31 seconds left. Rahim was about to need a Flacco jacket.

Advantage, Suggs.

Anyone remember that Sunday night game a season ago in Baltimore, in which Flacco and Mark Sanchez engaged in one of the most pathetic QB duels ever? Flacco completed 10 of 31 for a QBR of 14.7. Sanchez went 11-of-35 for a 0.8 QBR.

Seriously, Suggs?

Flacco has 19 games with a QBR under 20, tied with Sanchez for the most since 2008. Yet incredibly, Flacco also has 19 games over 80. The only other QB with seven over 90 and seven under 10 is the wildly erratic Jay Cutler. Flacco has often been even better than Cutler and sometimes even worse.

Joe Flacco, the unRaven, is on his way to becoming the greatest worst quarterback ever. He hasn't made a Pro Bowl and I doubt he ever will. But in their past two meetings, Flacco has owned Tom Brady.

Is Brady at a disadvantage because he's up against a defense that has often owned him? Yes. Ray Lewis is the Brady/Peyton of middle linebackers and can often checkmate the quarterbacks' checks. Is Flacco at an advantage because he can fling jump balls in the vicinity of the beastly Boldin and the electrifying Torrey Smith or just hand or flip it to Ray Rice? No doubt.

But some Fluke-o still lurks in Flacco. When you least expect it, he also can throw a 0.3 at you. Ravens fans: Prepare yourselves for a "Say it ain't so, Joe" game this Sunday.

And if he again outplays Tom Brady in the AFC title game at Gillette Stadium, please hide the razor blades for me.

[yeah]

not that bad of an article. he backs everything he says up with stats

[rgh]

"So how could the Patriots possibly be 9½-point favorites over a team that did everything but beat them in this game a year ago? Simple: The oddsmakers still trust Brady far more than they do Flacco …"

Wrong Skip the oddsmakers have only one goal and it is not to predict the outcome of the game. They want equal money bet on both teams. Then the winners pay the losers and the house collects the "juice". That is why spreads change throughout the week. If everyone is betting heavily on one team the spread will move to even things out.

The real reason the spread is 9.5 is the championship games draw more casual fans interest and therefore more bets. Most casual fans know more about Brady and the Patriots since they are the most dominant team since 2001. Therefore more are going to bet on the Patriots. The spread is high to encourage more bets on the Ravens to get even money on each team.

All professional sports analysts have to know this. Skip just twists facts to make his point. Which is why he is a hack. His whole game is to create controversy. I would bet he has more people watching him because they hate him rather than like him.

Howard Stern mastered this when he was on the public airways. He had huge ratings and a lot of his listeners did so because they hated him and wanted to rant about the things he said and did. Skip does the same thing. The way to make him go away is ignore him and destroy his ratings.

Thanks for posting the article so I could see what he said without giving him the page hit he so desperately craves. Again I bet most of the people who read it are POed Ravens fans who hate Skip.

[West Chester Raven]

Flock Skip Bayless. He is paid to be an antagonist. That's what he does. Who knows if he really believes the stuff he says/writes? Let's not forget that there needs to be a controversy element to keep things interesting for the media.

Joe is proving doubters (myself included) that they may have been wrong about him.

Go #5! We need ya in a big way tomorrow.