Flacco keeps poise, shows nerves of steel

It didn't do it, though. What Flacco had done, how Flacco had played, how Flacco had acted as if he had been there before, had carried the Ravens through the thicket of another typical defensive battle at Heinz ...

[Joshua Radice]

Same old Joe Flacco from Delaware; calm, cool, collected. There were even a few glimpses of the down field passer I have seen these past three years in that game. Just wait until he's fully comfortable...

[Sun Columnist]

We may have lost the battle, but I bet we end up winning the war. We WILL takeover first place when the last bell rings. Great game Joe. The fumble hurt us but I was well pleased with your play.

[ctr]

Maybe Flacco and the Ravens are for real. Tennessee will tell, me thinks.

[Ravens1-Steeler Hater]

I already can't wait until Dec 14th. The squeelers will be out of the playoff hunt, but Flacco should be real comfortable at that point.

[What]

This game was proof that the Ravens and Flacco are real. If we build on last night, we will be a factor in the playoffs.

[Fells Point Craig]

Flacco impressed. Big stage, against the best D he'll face all year, in a hostile stadium...not bad rookie, not bad. We'll get em' next time....and for years to come!

[RavensFaninNY]

Great game Flacco! I can't believe how far the rookie has come since those early preseason games. He looks sharp and poised and is able to complete the key passes. A 4th quarter TD drive is almost unheard of for the Ravens!

There is only room for improvement. Even though the Ravens lost in the end, it showed us how good the Ravens can be.

If the Ravens eliminate costly penalties and control the ball better it will be a good future for the team.

[Ravens_Flock]

Yet for all of this Flacco praise.....we DID lose. Now, I don't blame Flacco, of course. He played as best he could, I'm sure. But fact is, after Johnson's bout with testosterone drive retardation cost us 15 yards, when we already had the game well in hand, what I said would happen all along, happened. The pocket collapsed, protections broke down, and Flacco wasn't dancing around in the backfield anymore. He was getting hurried, getting flushed, and getting sacked. Like the big 6'6" target that he is.

We should have won this game. It was ours to win. And we lost it. If Flacco's passing were better, and we could have gotten off one last minute TD.....it would have been no problem. Unfortunately, we left it in the hands of overtime, shot ourselves in the foot, and chokes on our only OT offensive posession. Oh well...maybe we'll finally beat the Steelers on MNF NEXT YEAR.......

[Bill]

See Ya, Kyle!!

[jpp]

I think we all just witnessed the beginning of a Baltimore Ravens Franchise Quarterback.

[Still Wacco for Flacco]

Flacco played as well as or better than some veteran QB's. So we didn't win; can't win them all. But the Ravens showed everyone last night that they will not lay down and be stomped on. Mistakes happen and instead of giving up, they fought back. THAT is what Flacco brings to the table.

He will watch the game film and correct his mistakes. Finally, we have a QB who brings poise and confidence to the offense.

[Jay]

Let's not lose sight that Flacco is doing this with only one (potentially two if Heap isn't forced to block non-stop) legitimate receiving threat. Mason was all this team had last night as a receiving option. When Big Ben was winning games as a rookie, he had Hines and Plexico to throw to.

RavensFaninNY, I can't believe how far Flacco has come since the preseason games, either. He was throwing darts and showed outstanding touch on that TD.

[tlav]

He simply needs to realize when the play is over and protect the ball and take the sack; other than that he looks like a winner!

[The Armchair QB]

The Ravens were obviously the better team last night, notwithstanding the final score. They will get better and be a contender for many years to come! As for Pittsburgh, this is a mediocre team at best, which the Ravens exposed last night. In Flacco, the Ravens finally have their QB of the future and their most compelling need going forward is a receiver or two to complement him!

[Mr Football]

Let's not forget that on the sack that caused the fumble returned for a TD a lineman completely wiffed on Harrison and Flacco was blindsided. That wasn't about him getting rid of the ball, that was about getting decent pass protection.

[Scott G]

What last nights game did show was we were a little overconfident in the O-Line. They could still run block, but pass blocking showed weak against a quality defense. It's still a learning process, I recognize the line is young, but they were exposed last night.

[CRM]

Ravens1-Steeler Hater wrote:

I already can't wait until Dec 14th. The squeelers will be out of the playoff hunt, but Flacco should be real comfortable at that point.

Sorry to say the Steelers are going to come down here and totally embarrass us with our worse loss ever. We are nowhere in the same clas nor will we ever be!

[CRM]

Before everyone anoints Flacco as the 2nd coming of the Messiah you better wait a bit. He still has alot to prove. He has to show he can win the big game in the opponents stadium and he did not do that last night. Moral victories mean NOTHING, only wins and losses.

[Joshua Radice]

To say that moral victories mean nothing is to ignore the way that teams are built in the long term. A team that had a 5-11 meltdown is looking to see where they are in the rebuilding process. To stay in games and to give yourself a chance is precisely how you rebuild a team.

They showed very clearly that they could play 60 minutes with a supposedly elite team.

They also showed that their rookie QB has moments that he doesn't look like a rookie. But there are moments that he does look like a rookie.(Boller had a case of that his entire illustrius career in Baltimore).

This obsession with instant gratification and immediate improvement is absurd. Good teams take a few years to really gel.

[Motorhead Fan]

We lost on the scoreboard, but, the body count was devastating to the Steelers.

Look, we were expected to have another 5-11 season. Is there anyone who believes that now?

Yes, Flacco makes mistakes, but, they're MOSTLY mistakes that Tony Romo and other veterans make for the most part. This was Flacco's third NFL game - he's got balls of steel in the context of his experience. He's gotta be feeling pretty good right now. On the other hand, Harbaugh better put somebody with Jarrett Johnson all week, because I'm pretty certain that boy should be on suicide watch. The poor guy blew his stack and handed the momentum over to the Steelers. Bet that doesn't happen again.

We are making progress - excellent progress. Everybody just keep your pants on.