Before the preseason started, people were talking about Joe Flacco but nobody in their right mind would have thought he'd be starting in week one against the Bengals.After last night's impressive outing, his second of the preseason, the rookie from Delaware might have just outlasted the rest of the quarterback crew that has had anything but a smooth summer.
"I think Joe has made the case that he can go back there and compete for us as the opening-day starter," head coach John Harbaugh said. "Whether that's the best thing or where we're at, we'll have to see in the next three, four or five days. He's acquitted himself very well."Flacco completed eight of 13 passes for 72 yards in what turned out to be just over a quarter of work with the offense. Battling against rookie Matt Ryan, who was recently named the starter for the Falcons, Flacco appeared to be more in control of his offense and said after he is feeling more comfortable game by game.
"It was good to get in there and work with all of those guys," Flacco said. "We moved the ball a little bit and were able to get the confidence of the offense up."No matter how Flacco is looking, the bottom line is Kyle Boller and Troy Smith basically handed the rookie the starting job. Boller's shoulder is still a huge question mark heading to next week and Smith couldn't have picked a worse time for this tonsil infection that sidelined him again last night.The good news for Ravens fans is that they have another quarterback on the roster with Casey Bramlet, who basically had to sleep in the overhead compartment just to make the game.
After Flacco left the game, the Ravens handed the ball to Bramlet, who took a red-eye flight from San Diego to Baltimore on Wednesday night and had a makeshift walk-through with the team in the hotel ballroom yesterday morning.You know, nothing really prepares a person for the National Football League like a walk-through in a ballroom. "Ok, if the safety blitzes, you're going to pirouette your way to the right and dump off to the nearest back. Got it?"
So, realistically, the first week's depth chart could have Flacco and Bramlet as the top two guys. I think this is the perfect time to ask -- do you have Joe Flacco Fever?
