NEW ORLEANS — Neither of Joe Flacco’s two brothers was on the field in the Super Bowl on Sunday night. Flacco, the Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback, was not part of any pregame controversies involving deer antler spray, and he did not turn this game into a much-publicized finale of his retirement tour. At this point, there is no such thing as Flacco-ing.

So yes, most of the Super Bowl’s story lines had little to do with Flacco. But this was nothing new for Flacco, who, despite his own professions of self-confidence, has rarely been seen as a member of the N.F.L.’s coterie of top quarterbacks.

After the Ravens’ victory over San Francisco, however, the facts can no longer be ignored: at 28, Flacco now has the same number of postseason wins (nine) and Super Bowl titles (one) as Peyton Manning, who happens to be one of the three explosive quarterbacks that Flacco outplayed during the Ravens’ magical run to their franchise’s second Super Bowl championship.

First, Flacco beat Manning on a bitterly cold day in Denver. Then he knocked off New England’s Tom Brady on the road two weeks ago in the A.F.C. championship game. Finally, after taking down two icons, Flacco beat the wunderkind Colin Kaepernick, whose read-option versatility may well be the wave of the future but was not the style of the moment here Sunday night.