by Cian Fahey

Just a few months ago, Ozzie Newsome made Joe Flacco the highest-paid player in the history of the NFL for the second time. Newsome justified Flacco's $40 million signing bonus and $22.1 million average per year by saying, “Teams struggle with the quarterback position. Philly signing [Sam] Bradford and Washington having to put the franchise tag on [Kirk] Cousins. They don't have the résumé that Joe has, and for us to be moving forward with a guy that has eight years and won a Super Bowl and been in three AFC Championship Games, it speaks volumes.”

First, it's not exactly comforting when your justification for handing out the richest contract in the history of the sport is to point to two mediocre quarterbacks who were overpaid. Second, those two mediocre quarterbacks comfortably outplayed Flacco last season without playing particularly well. Flacco was terrible in 2015. Newsome said all the wrong things to justify the contract extension because he couldn't point to recent performances of Flacco's to prop him up. Even if we accept the idea that Flacco was responsible for his team's achievements (including a Super Bowl win and multiple AFC Championship Games), we still have to acknowledge that those achievements came a long time ago now.

Three seasons have passed since the Ravens won the Super Bowl. Over the course of those three seasons, Flacco's play has slumped. He had one of his most impressive statistical seasons in 2014 under Gary Kubiak. Kubiak's scheme simplified Flacco's reads, got him out of the pocket, and used the running game as its foundation, but Flacco was extremely lucky not to cripple Kubiak's good work by turning the ball over too often. Flacco only threw 14 interceptions in 18 games that year, but had 31 interceptable passes. Only Derek Carr and Brian Hoyer had more. His 2014 season was seen as a huge improvement over the previous year when Flacco threw 22 interceptions to just 19 touchdowns, but the only real difference was the ability of the defensive backs who were put in position to catch his errant passes. In 2015, Flacco threw 12 interceptions in just 10 starts and had 17 interceptable passes on just 413 attempts, giving him the 25th-ranked attempts-per-interceptable pass number out of the 35 quarterbacks who were charted in the Pre-Snap Reads Quarterback Catalogue.

Getting paid after winning the Super Bowl was the turning point for Flacco. He gave up on his mechanics once he had secured his huge contract, showing no courage to stand in against pressure in the pocket, nor any technical precision in his throwing motion. Mechanics are boring to talk about, but crucially important for accuracy. Strong-armed quarterbacks tend to be more sloppy with their mechanics, and Flacco has fallen into this stereotype over recent seasons.

The below chart tracks every qualifying throw from Flacco's 2015 season. It doesn't include passes tipped at the line of scrimmage, miscommunications, intentional throwaways, spikes, or attempts where the quarterback was hit during his motion.

Joe Flacco Accuracy By Distance, 2015 Pass Distance To 5 6-15 16-25 26-plus Outside Numbers Left 81.6% 38 63.6% 11 61.5% 13 14.3% 7 Outside Hashes Left 91.5% 47 88.3% 17 50.0% 10 N/A - Between Hashes 87.1% 31 73.3% 15 N/A - 0.0% 1 Outside Hashes Right 91.7% 60 65.4% 26 87.5% 8 N/A - Outside Numbers Right 88.1% 42 78.9% 19 75.0% 16 31.3% 16

Flacco completed 64.4 percent of his passes in 2015. Marc Trestman's scheme was a complete departure from Gary Kubiak's. Trestman's scheme emphasized short throws and screens. Flacco led the league with 28.1 percent of his completions coming on plays where the ball didn't travel farther than 2 yards past the line of scrimmage. This artificially bloated Flacco's completion percentage. Despite playing in that favorable scheme, his accuracy rate of 76.9 percent ranked 19th out of the 35 quarterbacks charted in the Pre-Snap Reads Quarterback Catalogue. Flacco ranked just one spot ahead of Kirk Cousins, who was at 76.3 percent; both players were far behind Sam Bradford, who was accurate on 83.5 percent of his throws.

As the above chart shows, Flacco was extremely inaccurate throwing the ball downfield. He was relatively inaccurate on shorter throws, but he could still complete them at a high rate because those throws typically come with a low degree of difficulty.

The numbers from the Pre-Snap Reads Quarterback Catalogue account for the quality of each quarterback's receivers. While Flacco's receivers weren't good in 2015, they weren't the primary reason for his struggles. Flacco was wildly missing his targets too often, with his receivers only costing him a completion on an accurate pass once every 16.5 attempts -- only three quarterbacks had a more favorable ratio. Having receivers with greater catch radiuses could have helped Flacco, but it feels fraudulent to give him that benefit of the doubt considering how poor his accuracy was in 2015. He wasn't just missing slightly.

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The play in the above GIF comes from the Ravens' very first drive of the season against the Denver Broncos in Week 1. The Ravens are at their own 38-yard line facing a third-and-7. Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Philips is aggressive, sending a blitz that the Ravens protection is able to account for. Flacco understands in this situation that he has to hold the ball to let his preferred route develop, but he also understands that doing so will likely lead to a hit after he has released the ball. The perfect play in this scenario would have seen Flacco delivering the ball when he did, but doing so with his feet planted in a natural position beneath him. Because Flacco knows the rush is coming, he shows off fear and reacts terribly.



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Before he ever begins his throwing motion, Flacco's heavy feet and rigid body can be seen. He doesn't comfortably stay on the balls of his feet or turn his shoulders with his intended receiver, instead only turning his head so he releases the ball too far away from his body. Flacco's feet should be flat; instead he has moved them so that he can completely avoid the hit he would possibly take had they been planted in the right position. Flacco looks like he is entering a squat on a stool next to the bar as the ball comes out of his hand. If you've ever thrown anything in your life, you'll know that's not an ideal way to transfer your weight so you can keep your balance and, in turn, keep control of your accuracy.

Throwing the ball like this is difficult no matter where you are trying to throw it, but it obviously makes throwing the ball downfield extremely difficult. Flacco has a strong arm, but his mechanics meant that he was accurate on just six of 24 throws that traveled 26 or more yards past the line of scrimmage last season. That's an accuracy rate of just 25 percent!

As early as Week 2 we saw multiple examples of Flacco's awful deep accuracy.

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The first clip from that game against the Oakland Raiders can be seen above. Flacco isn't a quarterback who moves much in the pocket. His inclination is to move back or run rather than mitigate pressure with subtle movements. As such, the ball was regularly coming out earlier than it needed to. On this play, Flacco doesn't have to rush his throw, but he does anyway. That lack of poise is paired with a throwing motion that sees him move backwards while raising his body onto his toes. Inevitably, the ball floats and arrives short of its intended destination. The receiver wasn't at fault on this play. He could have worked back through the defensive back better, but that wouldn't change the fact that he was bailing out a bad throw from his quarterback. Had Flacco thrown an accurate pass, the receiver would have had a relatively easy reception, even a touchdown, because he had beaten Neiko Thorpe, the Raiders cornerback.

When you're paying a quarterback -- any quarterback -- big money, you expect him to be able to function in less-than-ideal conditions. That doesn't mean he has to be able to elevate everyone around him on every play, but he should always take the right approach to put himself in the best position to succeed. Process over results if you must. In this second play below, you can see how poorly Flacco reacts when the pressure cranks up very slightly.

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Aldon Smith is able to work his way through the Ravens left tackle as Flacco gets to the top of his drop. Again, Flacco will have time to deliver the ball cleanly, but he will also understand that he is going to be hit after he releases the ball. He has to show toughness here. He has to stand in and take the hit to maintain mechanical discipline and give his receiver a chance. Once more, you can see how Flacco doesn't extend his left foot, instead bringing it back as he winds up to release the ball so that he is in that leaning/sitting stance again. Predictably, the ball floats far away from its intended target and should be intercepted by the arriving safety. This isn't an easy pass to complete, but this level of pressure shouldn't immediately result in such a wild throw either.

Flacco was pressured on just 22.8 percent of his plays last year. Twenty-five quarterbacks faced pressure more often than he did. That has been the case throughout his career as the Ravens have generally employed good linemen. He was pressured on 23.0 percent of his plays in 2014, 25.1 percent in 2013, 20.9 percent in 2012, and 22.7 percent in 2011.

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After that lucky escape against the Raiders in Week 2, Flacco repeated his mistake and was punished a week later against the Cincinnati Bengals. Pressure once again causes Flacco to release the ball falling backwards without his feet set beneath him. That wasn't the sole reason for this interception though. Flacco's process was extremely slow, a recurring issue for him, so he was late throwing to a receiver who would have been fortunate to have a chance even if the ball had arrived on time. Kyle Juszczyk was completely wiped out by Adam Jones at the line of scrimmage. Jones had one of the easiest interceptions of his career and could have run it back for an easy touchdown had Juszczyk not been aware of his presence to make the tackle.

Late in the fourth quarter of the same game, the Ravens were trailing by four and facing a third-and-3 deep in their own territory. A player celebrated for his ability to come through in the clutch needed to come through.

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Interior pressure is problematic for all quarterbacks. It completely disrupts your setup in the pocket because you can't step forward to avoid it. You have to move laterally or drop a shoulder, taking your eyes away from the coverage downfield. You need to combine fluid athleticism and poise in the pocket to handle interior pressure. Flacco can run in space, but he's the exact opposite of a fluid athlete. The above play shows off his inability to move his feet quickly and his tentativeness against interior pressure. Steve Smith has beaten his man; he's wide open for the first down and a lot more. Flacco can't make a simple throw because he is hopping into the air and moving in the wrong direction as he releases the ball.

The throw is all arm and no body.

It's something you can see constantly on Flacco's tape over the past few years. His feet are heavier than ever, so his process in the pocket is slower than ever. Instead of shifting his weight and squaring off to his intended target, his feet point outwards like Krusty the Clown. The above play comes from Week 4 during the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Flacco had major issues deciphering Keith Butler's coverages during this game, but that was overshadowed by two field goal drives, one in the fourth and one in overtime, that snatched an unlikely victory for the Ravens. There are two ways to look at that game. You can either focus on the team result and give Flacco the credit for bringing his team back late, or you can look at the whole picture and evaluate his play as an individual through all four quarters, or five as it happened to be in this game.

Ozzie Newsome would like you to do the former, but in the context of his season and how he has played over recent years, it's hard to give him that benefit of the doubt.

During the Ravens' Super Bowl run, Flacco's performances were a constant source of debate. He was playing relatively well, and most fans acknowledged that, but those who played off his performances as flawless were countered with two arguments more than any other. One was Rahim Moore's disaster in Denver. Flacco was fortunate not to be intercepted by Moore at a critical point late in the game when he heaved the ball downfield for a huge play. Moore clearly misread the pass and missed out on a turnover that could have ended the Ravens' season with Flacco taking all the blame. The second argument against Flacco's quality of performance was his over-reliance on Anquan Boldin. Boldin caught 22 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns in four playoff games that season, and a lot of that production came from Flacco simply throwing the ball up for him to go and get it.

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Throwing the ball up between players is something Flacco does too often. There's a difference between being aggressively attacking tight coverage and simply throwing the ball up, hoping that your receiver can win it. Flacco doesn't do enough to give his receiver the advantage at the catch point in these situations. This is an issue that was highlighted more in 2015 because of the limited quality of his receivers. In the above GIF, you can see a play from Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns. Mechanics or accuracy are less of an issue on this play than the decision is. The Browns are playing quarters coverage and Joe Haden is playing on the right side of the defense. Haden follows Chris Givens from the beginning of the play, and Flacco can see him in position when he releases the ball. This isn't a shot that the quarterback should take, but if he's going to take it he has to try and lead Givens infield more than he did. This isn't a 50-50 ball, it's an 80-20 ball in favor of Haden.

Haden not only had a chance to catch it, he should have caught it.

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Just a few weeks later, Flacco made almost a carbon copy of that mistake against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He wasn't punished by the defensive back on that occasion either. That play can be seen above.

Decision making is a major problem for Flacco. He makes the types of plays that would earn other quarterbacks the “He can't run his offense” comments, and he makes them regularly. Starting for a Super Bowl-winning team four years ago shouldn't make you untouchable, nor should it mean that we are apathetic when you play such terrible football. It should really do the opposite, yet when Flacco makes these kinds of plays and keeps getting rewarded we barely bat an eyelid.

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This was the worst interception of the 2015 season. No matter how many times you watch the above GIF, you won't be able to figure out what Flacco could have reasonably been trying to do. Was he looking to hit the crosser coming from the other side of the field? If so, he was about 20 yards too far to the left. Was he looking to hit the shallower receiver on the far sideline? If so, he was about 20 yards too far downfield and to the right, not to mention the underneath defender who could have undercut any pass. Was he trying to throw the ball away? That is feasible but unlikely and illogical.

Finding a rational line of thinking for the previous play is a lot easier than finding one for the play below.

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Against the St. Louis Rams, in a game where Flacco had two horrendously bad interceptions, this was his most appalling decision. Facing a fourth down while losing early in the third quarter, Flacco checks down to a covered receiver from a clean pocket. His fullback would have had to break James Laurinaitis' tackle and at least one more tackle after that to even get close to the first-down line. Flacco can't argue he was trying to set up a punt; he can't even argue that he was trying to push the opposition further into their own territory. The play made no sense regardless of what his receivers were doing downfield. When you do look at the receivers downfield, the decision looks even worse because there was a good chance that Maxx Williams could have had a first down in the right seam with a good throw.



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Newsome can talk about what the Ravens achieved as a team with Flacco as their starter more than three years ago, but what matters is what he is likely to do moving forward. In 2015 he was truly terrible. He was worse than the subpar or average floor that we tend to put on quarterbacks who have had sustained success in the past. He was worse than Kirk Cousins, much worse than Sam Bradford. The Flacco who started for the Ravens last year had major accuracy issues, made terrible decisions, and showed off no poise. A lot of his problems emanated from footwork and his fear of his lower body getting hit. If that problem was bad last year, it only projects to be worse next year after knee surgery.