Sorting the Sunday Pile, Week 5: Joe Flacco Is No Matt Ryan

Sorting the Sunday Pile looks back at the NFL weekend that was. It's also an unofficial Mittens blog.

Two months ago, the plan was to bring Joe Flacco along slowly; let him learn by watching this season -- or at least until head coach John Harbaugh couldn't stomach the sight of another Kyle Boller spaz-tastic five-step drop that inevitably results in a pick-six. And then, if all goes well, give Flacco the chance to ease into the role in 2009. Sort of like the Bengals did with Carson Palmer in 2004, or the Chargers and Philip Rivers in 2006.

But things didn't work out that way: Boller suffered a season-ending-before-it-started shoulder injury, and two games into the preseason, Troy Smith contracted a virus that left him 20 pounds lighter and so weak he couldn't even practice.

Flacco didn't have a choice -- he was the starter. And while most people who know about such things agreed that Flacco was out of his depth -- I mean, he couldn't make it at the University of Pittsburgh (Tyler Palko, baby!) and transferred to University of Delaware to get on the field. Sure, a Division I-AA power, but not exactly an NFL resume builder. Plus, Flacco didn't even throw a football through the uprights from midfield on one knee during his pre-draft workout.

Yet, through three games, Flacco had already been compared to a young Ben Roethlisberger, described as unflappable, and had, at times, showed poise beyond his years. To be fair, the Ravens sandwiched home wins over hapless Bengals and Browns squads around an unplanned Week 2 bye resulting from Hurricane Ike demolishing Reliant Stadium in Houston. Pretty good way for a rookie to start his career: two home games over three weeks with the league's best defense behind you.

Last Monday, Flacco faced the Steelers in Pittsburgh, and despite a few mistakes and a huge fumble that was returned for six, Flacco again fared well. Some of the credit has to go to new offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, who often went with max-protect schemes to keep his quarterback upright. But Flacco still had to make the throws -- which he did -- something Boller never could manage with any consistency. Despite the loss, the Ravens were heartened by the fact that they finally had a signal caller who didn't freak out every four or five times a game. And it was starting to feel like the 2000 Super Bowl team, but with the added benefit that the offense would actually score more than the defense.

Now, seven days after being 2-0 and one of the surprise teams of the first quarter of the season, Baltimore has dropped two straight, are in the middle of the pack in the way-too-early-to-start-speculating wild-card race, and Flacco, while still an obvious improvement over Boller, looks more like a rookie than he did after Week 3.

Not to take anything away from what the former Blue Hen has been able to do (which, to be honest, has included handing the ball off, and taking advantage of short and intermediate routes working off play-action; nothing wrong with that, just saying ... ), but the Falcons' Matt Ryan has been more impressive through the first five weeks of the season.


The 2004 Steelers created a blueprint for how to win with a rookie quarterback, and it's one the Ravens have followed with some early-season success. The problem, of course, is that for it to work, you need to have the players in place; Big Ben is just another guy if Pittsburgh didn't have Hines Ward and Jerome Bettis on offense, and Dick LeBeau zone-blitzing opponents crazy on defense. Baltimore has been able to do it without Flacco (the club won 13 games in 2006, after all), but the Falcons were the laughingstock of the NFL last season.

In 2007, Michael Vick was convicted of puppy murder, DeAngelo Hall's histrionics ended up costing the team an early-season NFC South victory over the Panthers, and then 13 weeks into his first year on the job, head coach Bobby Petrino up and quit.

Nobody had the Falcons at 3-2 at this point in the proceedings, because, well, there's a new coach, a rookie quarterback, a leaky offensive line and a defense that was routinely embarrassed last season.

And yet, here we are; Ryan, the giggly kid from Boston College, suddenly looking like a 10-year veteran, deftly dropping passes into his receivers arms on fade routes, or going through his progressions to find the open man while facing a heavy pass rush. But much like Flacco, Ryan benefits from a solid running game, although, no one expected anything from the offensive line, the defense or, frankly, any other unit.

When the Falcons rushed to sign Michael Turner early in free agency, I just figured it was another case of a team overspending for a running back. I don't have many rules in life, but one of them is: running backs are fungible.
Unless you got Jim Brown or Barry Sanders, giving them big-money contracts, or spending a high-first round pick on one is just a waste of resources.

There are just too many examples of this personnel strategy blowing up in an organization's face -- Curtis Enis, William Green, T.J. Duckett and Cedric Benson, are recent, inglorious draft examples, and Shaun Alexander got a huge contract in 2006, right about the time that he turned into a soft, no-way-I'm-taking-a-hit pumpkin. And then there are guys like undrafted Willie Parker, or Marion Barber, a former fourth-rounder, who support the argument that running backs are relatively easy to find.

But so far, Atlanta has gotten a nice little return on the six-year, $34.5 million deal it took to bring Turner to town. Throw in former 2006 third-rounder Jerious Norwood, who's one of the best backs nobody talks about, and Ryan's job is suddenly a lot easier.

Sunday against the Packers, Ryan was 16 of 26 for 194 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. He wasn't sacked and sported a nifty 94.1 passer rating. Those aren't eye-popping stats, but coupled with a ground game that saw Turner pile up 121 yards on 26 carries, was enough for a road win, something the Falcons hadn't been able to do in five tries. Take a gander at these numbers:

Ryan: 5 games, 54.2 pct., 863 yards, 4 TDs, 3 INTs, 7 sacks, 75.3 rating
Flacco: 4 games, 58.5 pct., 603 yards, 1 TD, 4 INTs, 6 sacks, 61.9 rating

There a lot of football to play, as they say, but Ryan has to be one of the early-season success stories. Whether it continues, who knows, but 5/16ths into this thing, he's making it pretty easy to forget what happened less than a year ago.

Kerry Collins Continues to Make His Case

During last week's STSP, I wrote that Kerry Collins, 2008 = Trent Dilfer, 2000 but much, much better. And after Sunday's slugfest, I still feel that way. For some reason, the national media kept trotting out "the last time Collins faced the Ravens he threw FOUR INTERCEPTIONS and that's surely weighing on him!" reminder. Never mind that it was the 2000 season. In the Super Bowl. With the Giants.

Or that Ray Lewis and Matt Stover are the only holdovers from that Ravens team that pummeled him for almost 60 minutes. And to think that a 35-year-old, 14-year vet would even remember what happened eight years ago seems sorta silly, particularly given all that Collins has endured in his career. Whatever, that was the story line heading into the game.

Collins ended up throwing two picks, but I'd like to think that had more to do with the Ravens' tenacious defense than any lingering effects of Super Bowl XXXV.

After a slow start, Collins managed to pull it together long enough to throw a game-deciding touchdown to tight end Alge Crumpler, and on the subsequent drive, Flacco the Unflappable tossed an interception that guaranteed the Titans a 5-0 start. Interesting sidenote, from Peter King on Sunday's Football Night in America:

"About an hour ago, Kerry Collins told me ... he said, 'look, I don't feel like I can be a backup anymore.' He doesn't want to rock the boat. He's not going to rock the boat, but his contract is up at the end of this year, he's played superbly in relief of Vince Young.

And understand this contract situation with Vince Young. He's owed $2.1 million next year, but for two years after that, he has a non-guaranteed $25.5 million coming to him. So I could see a situation where the Tennessee Titans sign Kerry Collins for the future, and bring them both to camp next year and say 'May the best quarterback win.'

If it's Collins, then they cut ties with Young after the '09 season, keep Collins for the long term."

I don't know about Collins for the long term, but everything else I buy. Look, there's no way the Titans beat the Ravens with VY back there taking sacks, throwing momentum-changing picks, and pouting about it all. And I say this as somebody who wants the guy to do well. I'm just being realistic.

And if there's an organization that has shown it'll cut ties with a player -- even a top-10 pick -- it's Tennessee. They traded Pacman Jones for a late-round pick this offseason and if it looks like Young can't handle the full-time gig, it's not worth $25.5 million to keep him around. If it comes to that, the club might want to start making contingency plans for the next franchise quarterback because Collins ain't playing forever. Or even another two years.

Muffed Punts
Leftovers from Sunday's action...


... Poor Sage Rosenfels. Fifty-five minutes into the Colts-Texans game, Houston's backup quarterback was making his latest plea for why he should win the starting job and then ... well, he clearly lost his mind. I mean, the Texans were up 27-10 on a Colts outfit that has been beset by injuries and old age, and Rosenfels singlehandedly whirly-birded his team to quite possibly the most demoralizing defeat that didn't involve mittens.

With four minutes to go and up 10, Rosenfels fumbled and Colts linebacker Gary Brackett promptly took it to the house. 27-24. On the next series, not contend with just one fumble, Rosenfels did it again. And again, Indianapolis scored. 27-31. Rosenfels then threw an interception for good measure and Baby Jesus wept. If not for those last five minutes, we'd be talking about a) what the hell's up with Indy, and b) has Matt Schaub been relegated to clipboard holder? Well, the Colts are 2-2 and in second place in the division and Schaub's job appears to be safe.

Steph deserves better. If it makes Texans fans feel any better, I'm certain Rosenfels didn't sleep. Partly because he couldn't get that fourth quarter out of his mind, but mostly due to David Carr prank calling him all night. Hardly seems fair.


... Some free advice for Plaxico Burress: do your job because, apparently, everybody's expendable. Say, for example, you. Domenik Hixon, your replacement, had four catches for 102 yards and a touchdown during Sunday's 44-6 beatdown of the Seahawks.

Things got so out of control that David Carr actually made an appearance -- and threw a freaking touchdown to Sinorice Moss (hence the phone calls to the Rosenfels residence) -- but the point remains: New York can win without Plax ... just not Mittens. Weird.

By the way, remember in 2006, when Seattle went up 35 on the Giants and Jeremy Shockey said the team was "outcoached"? Ah, good times.

... If not for the Giants, the Redskins would have a strong case for the best team in football. No idea what that do-gooder Jim Zorn does to get his team prepared, but after dropping the opener to the defending champs, it's been on like Donkey Kong. I'm sure some of it has to do with Joe Gibbs no longer standing on the sidelines randomly calling timeouts, and the fact that the offense has yet to commit a turnover probably helps, too.

As for the Eagles, possibly the unluckiest team of the modern era, they fall to 2-3 and face an uphill battle to get back in the wild-card conversation. Maybe Jeffrey Lurie might suggest his team play physical. Wins will surely follow. Or something.

... Just in case it wasn't clear: please ignore me. On Friday, I had the temerity to suggest that there was no way the Dolphins could beat the resurgent Chargers and that's exactly what happened. Of course it was. To recap: Miami has defeated New England and San Diego, the two teams who played in the 2007 AFC Championship game, in back-to-back games. Oh, and by Week 10, I fully expect head coach Tony Sparano to name Ronnie Brown the Dolphins' starting quarterback. It makes way too much sense not to happen.

Good news, though: Ed Hochuli is off the hook for putting the Chargers in an 0-2 hole. I suspect that doesn't make Norvell and Co. feel any better this morning, but I bet Hochuli busted out a few hundred push-ups to celebrate in his own, special, understated way.

... Carson Palmer's first pass against the Cowboys was ... intercepted. And why wouldn't it have been? Thing is, the Bengals probably should've won that game if not for the fact that they remembered who they were long enough to give up a 15-yard Terrell Owens dig route that turned into a 57-yard touchdown to decide things early in the fourth quarter. On the upside, Chad Javon Ocho Cinco did get a post-game photo with his idol, so there's that.



... It's hard to believe that the Bills will only go as far as Trent Edwards takes them. That's not a knock on the second-year quarterback, just that nobody expected him to emerge as a leader so quickly. During the first series against the Cardinals yesterday, Edwards was knocked silly by safety Adrian Wilson on a hit everybody is calling clean and legal.

It looked to be neither, but what do I know? The NFL rules seemingly change from one week to the next, and what appears to be a penalty on Sunday will almost certainly not be called in seven days' time. It makes thing infinitely more interesting, but also kinda arbitrary. Too bad Eric Smith was on a bye Sunday; he would've have free reign to re-arrange Anquan Boldin's face, apparently. Whatever, Edwards suffered a concussion, and J.P. Losman replaced him. And just like old times, Losman fumbled away his very first snap. He ended the afternoon 15 of 21 for 220 yards, with a touchdown and a pick, but the offense sputters without Edwards (save the once-a-game J.P. special: 80-plus yard bomb to Lee Evans where the football actually leaves your television screen for a good four seconds as it makes its way downfield). The Bills still lead the AFC East, but this loss, coupled with the Patriots win in San Francisco, makes things a lot tighter. That's right, people: Cassel-Mania!? is back on.

... During ESPN's Sunday Countdown Chris Mortensen reported that Lions head coach Rod Marinelli happily reported that the team had its best practice of the season. Presumably, with Matt Millen now out of the picture, Detroit could get down to the business of winning football games. A 34-7 Bears-administered whuppin' later, we have confirmation: the Lions still suck. Things got so bad that Jon Kitna was benched for Dan Orlovsky. The nicest thing I can say: Orlovsky only threw one interception ... that was returned for a touchdown. Hey, baby steps, folks.

... Some advice for Ben Roethlisberger, who has made a career out of extending plays while taking a few sacks along the way: THROW THE FREAKING BALL AWAY! (Exceptions: game-winning drives/touchdown passes to Hines Ward.) That is all.

Post-Game Debaclings
Quotes that Emmitt Smith might like...

"That's Ben ... Sometimes he holds the ball too long, and the offensive line catches a bad rap for it. But you take the good with the bad because he can step up and deliver the way he delivered tonight. He's very good at what he does, and the guys have a great deal of belief in him. He delivers time and time again."
- Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, describing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who isn't afraid to take a hit

"I didn't see that coming at all. We were a confident team after last week's game ... Then we come in here and we acted like we've never played before."
- Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards, after losing to the Panthers 34-0

"I like how, with six minutes left, Kerry came in and commanded the game ... He showed his poise and his leadership qualities in that last drive when we scored. Being a 14-year vet, with all the things he's done, I don't care how much talent a young quarterback has, they don't have that. They haven't played enough games."
- Titans linebacker Keith Bullock, who isn't worried about quarterback Kerry Collins

"Well, that was a good, old-fashioned, you know what ... I believe we are a better football team than that, but the Giants really took it to us."
- Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren after watching the Giants go for 44 points (Oh, and Mike, the word you're looking for? "Ass-kicking," I think)

"We had an awful game today, but it's an organizational loss ... It's not on any one individual."
- Lions executive vice president Tom Lewand, successfully reprising the role of recently canned Matt Millen, in the wake of Detroit's 34-7 loss to Chicago