ExtremeRavens Posted yesterday at 10:30 AM Posted yesterday at 10:30 AM In Week 15 of the 2012 regular season, then-Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw an interception that Denver cornerback Chris Harris Jr. returned 98 yards for a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the first half. Flacco tried to run Harris down, but missed a shoestring tackle. The result was Flacco lying flat on his face and motionless as the Broncos went on to secure a 34-17 victory. The only thing missing was movement, because everyone might have thought that Flacco was a snow angel. But two weeks later, he started to put together one of the best postseasons in NFL history as the Ravens went on to beat the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31, in Super Bowl XLVII. If there is any doubt, ask Ozzie Newsome, the Hall of Fame tight end with the Cleveland Browns (1978-90) and later the architect and general manager of the Ravens (2002-18) who built two Super teams in Baltimore before becoming executive vice president/player personnel in 2019. “I don’t know if Steve Young had those kind of numbers with the 49ers, but I can’t recall anyone posting numbers like Joe,” Newsome said. “He got into a rhythm and on the same page with Jim Caldwell and what Jim wanted to do, and Jim played into that.” Flacco, 40, will be the starting quarterback for Cleveland on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium for the Ravens’ home opener. A lot of visiting teams back away from player introductions, but Flacco would probably command a standing ovation. In four playoff games in 2012-13, he passed for 1,140 yards and 11 touchdowns, which tied him with Kurt Warner and Joe Montana for the most touchdown passes without an interception in a single postseason. His 117.2 passer rating tied him for third place with Young in a Super Bowl-winning postseason. Along the way, Flacco beat Indianapolis in a wild-card game, followed by Denver, which was favored by nine points, and then New England in the AFC championship game. He became the second quarterback to beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the same postseason since both became starters. That’s not bad for a quarterback from the University of Delaware who was selected with the 18th pick of 2008 draft — or a player who was the team’s second option. The Ravens tried to trade for Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, but he was selected as the third overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons. Needless to say, it worked out extremely well for the Ravens. Flacco went 96-67 in the regular season and 10-5 in the postseason in 11 years in Baltimore before being traded to the Broncos in 2019, one year after the Ravens drafted Lamar Jackson in the first round. “Joe had arm talent, first and foremost,” Newsome said. “That made him a first-round pick. That’s what carried us in the playoffs. You could see the fire in him, but his demeanor was the same. Joe was still Joe.” His nickname was “Joe Cool.” Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and coach John Harbaugh celebrate their victory over the Patriots in the AFC championship game in January 2013. (Staff file) The only Ravens quarterback in team history who had a stronger arm was Vinny Testaverde, the former University of Miami star who lasted for two years in Baltimore. Flacco, though, was a gunslinger in the 2012 postseason, which was quite unusual considering the Ravens changed offensive coordinators after a Week 14 loss to Washington. Harbaugh fired Cam Cameron and replaced him with Caldwell, the quarterbacks coach who had previously been the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2009 to 2011. It was a perfect marriage. It coincided with a rough beginning as the Ravens tried to sign Flacco to a contract extension before the start of the 2012 season. “We just couldn’t get it done,” Newsome said of the extension talks. “We were sure he could lead us, and he was well respected in the locker room, and that’s a major key. But who can predict if he was going to be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback?” Flacco was 12 of 23 for 282 yards and two touchdowns in the Ravens’ wild-card game, a 24-9 win over Indianapolis in Baltimore. He threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns against Denver in the divisional round, and then had 240 yards and three touchdowns in the Ravens’ 28-13 win over the Patriots in the AFC championship game. But it was in Denver where Flacco earned icon status. Facing a third-and-3 with less than 45 seconds remaining and no timeouts, Flacco threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to late receiver Jacoby Jones to send the game into overtime. It became known as the “Mile High Miracle.” The Ravens eventually won, 38-35, in double overtime. January 12, 2013: The Mile High Miracle. Down seven w/ 0:44 left in the 4Q of the AFC Divisional Round against the Broncos, Joe Flacco finds Jacoby Jones for a 70-yard TD to tie it. The Ravens won 38-35 in 2OT. pic.twitter.com/iJHIGC8K4h — This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) January 12, 2021 It’s still one of the greatest touchdown passes in NFL history, right up there with the “Immaculate Reception.” In fact, the pass was thrown so high that it seemed to have dew on it when it reached Jones’ hands. Baltimore held off a late comeback bid to beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl, and Flacco was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after completing 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns. He was given a Chevrolet Corvette and later a six-year, $120.6 million contract, a record at the time. But the “Mile High Miracle” pass was his claim to fame in Baltimore. Newsome acknowledged that he was packing his bag and headed to the elevator to what he thought would be the losing locker room. “In terms of looking back, what an amazing run, and what an era for the Ravens, the ‘Joe Flacco era,'” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said this week. “In the early part of his career, was with Ray [Lewis], Ed [Reed] and those guys in the later part of his career with another set of guys. He’s iconic, I think, in Baltimore football history. I respect that and admire that and still keep in touch with him, except not this week. “This week, it’s not about that for us as a football team, it’s about us getting prepared for a good quarterback that knows how to play the game, [who’s] capable of making plays against you, and we’re going to have to be at our very best to defend against Joe and the whole offense.” It was a remarkable run, one that will go down in Baltimore history like the so-called “Greatest Game Ever Played” between the Colts and Giants for the 1958 title or the city’s Super Bowl wins in 1971 and again in 2000. But if the Ravens think that they will walk over Flacco on Sunday, Newsome suggests otherwise. They’d better beware and heed his warning. “I tried to trade up and get Matt Ryan,” Newsome said, “so I was sitting there in the bottom of the first round or wherever, and we took Joe. We had sent a contingent of coaches and scouts to watch him and they all came back glowing. Cam had plans to utilize Joe and that arm talent. We had four or five people go up there, and they said Joe was putting on a show and had a great workout. “When you have arm talent, you don’t lose that. Aaron Rodgers is still playing because he has arm talent. It’s like being a great pitcher. Unless you have some type of injury or surgery, that arm talent never goes away. He can still bring it.” Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. View the full article Quote
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