Joe Flacco had his ups and downs on Sunday in a 36-19 Browns loss to the Rams, but this much is certain: The offense needs to belong to Flacco the rest of the season.
Flacco, 38 and with the team for 14 days, started Sunday’s game for the Browns and completed 23 of 44 passes for 254 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
For the first time since the second half in Baltimore, Deshaun Watson’s final half of the season, the Browns found their sea legs throwing the football for most of the game. The play action game came to life and the threat of throws beyond the sticks became a thing again.
For the first time since the second half in Baltimore, Deshaun Watson’s final half of the season, the Browns found their sea legs throwing the football for most of the game. The play action game came to life and the threat of throws beyond the sticks became a thing again.
Flacco’s ability to step in and run the offense speaks to how bleak the Browns’ backup quarterback position has been all season.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson wasn’t ready when he made his first start against the Ravens in Week 4. P.J. Walker started long enough to lose the faith of head coach Kevin Stefanski. Thompson-Robinson returned and, while he made progress, the passing game was still inconsistent.
Flacco managed the offense well, avoiding big mistakes for most of the game — we’ll get to that — and getting rid of the ball instead of taking sacks. He even breathed life into his former Jets teammate, Elijah Moore, who finished with four catches for 83 yards.
His fourth quarter interception on a deep shot to Moore was ill-advised and proved costly, but there is a cost to doing business with an aggressive quarterback who believes in his arm, especially when he wasn’t even in the league a few weeks ago.
Flacco is not going to be perfect, and he might not always look like this. His efficiency might waver. He’ll turn the ball over because sometimes if you’re going to push the ball downfield and make tight-window throws, mistakes will happen.
Throughout the day, Flacco was willing to take easy throws when they were there and allow the passing game to look like a real NFL passing game and did most of it with Amari Cooper lost to a head injury midway through the second quarter.
Stefanski’s offense at its best is designed to create opportunities for completions if the quarterback takes them with deep shots mixed in. Sometimes it requires patience, and the throws will show up, like what happened when Flacco threw touchdown passes to Jerome Ford in the first quarter and Harrison Bryant in the fourth.
Before Flacco, the offense was suffocating. Open up the passing game and the run game can get going.
The two weeks prior to this, with Thompson-Robinson starting, the Steelers and Broncos both had a tendency to stay in base, keeping a heavier body on the field, even when the Browns would come out in three-receiver sets. Defenses simply weren’t scared of getting exploited downfield with Thompson-Robinson at quarterback.
Walker could throw the ball downfield, but the turnovers were just too much.
If you’re expecting perfection, you’re not going to get it. The reality of this situation is that Flacco is 38 years old, he wasn’t on a team two weekends ago and he’s the fourth quarterback the Browns are starting this season.
This is the hand the Browns were dealt. They might as well let Flacco deal the rest of the way.
