It's time to make room for Flacco in upper echelon of quarterbacks
There is something to be gained from watching football at ground level, especially from the end zone behind the offense as a play unfolds. What you see, mostly, is how difficult the game is, how fast it moves, and how singularly challenging it is to play quarterback, out of all the positions in sports. With less than a minute to go in regulation of last Saturday's AFC divisional playoff round in Denver, facing third-and-three at his own 30 yard line with no timeouts left, and trailing the Broncos 35--28, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco picked himself up following a seven-yard scramble and listened to the play call from offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell. "Scat Right 99," Caldwell said.
Four verticals, Flacco thought. Four receivers -- two right, two left -- running go routes, with Ray Rice trolling underneath as the safety valve out of the backfield. Not much time to think. Flacco knew that Rice would be open; he's always open. But he also knew he had reached the moment of truth in Baltimore's season, and it was not a time to think about safety valves. He was thinking, I hope one of my guys gets one step ahead of one of their corners.
In the seconds before the snap, the crowd sounded frenetic in the -2° wind chill. Broncos defenders ran about, pointing and arranging coverage. No such frantic movement from Flacco, though. Standing alone at the 25, waiting for the shotgun snap, he may have been the calmest guy in the place.
"You better have guts to play the quarterback position," Flacco's backup, Tyrod Taylor, said afterward. "In the middle of everything going on out there, you better not be afraid. You'll fail."
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130117/joe-flacco/#ixzz2ILir3Gm6
= new reply since forum marked as read
