Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco capped a brilliant playoff series by steering his team to a Super Bowl victory on Sunday, and was named as the game’s Most Valuable Player.
The unassuming and unheralded Flacco completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards and three first-half touchdowns in the 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
Setting aside any questions about just how good he is and where he ranks among the league’s best quarterbacks, Flacco became only the sixth in 47 Super Bowls to throw for three scores in a first half, connecting with Anquan Boldin for 13 yards, Dennis Pitta for 1, and Jacoby Jones for 56.
And the admittedly mild-mannered guy, who played his college football far from the spotlight at Delaware, wrapped up Baltimore’s four-game run to the title with 11 TD passes and zero interceptions.
It was an impressive streak that included road victories against two of the best QBs, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
Flacco’s job in the second half was more about being safe than spectacular. He had helped Baltimore take a 21-6 halftime lead, and it grew to 28-6 when Jacoby Jones returned the second-half kickoff a Super Bowl-record 108 yards.
That, though, is when things got strange. First, a power outage knocked out many lights inside the Superdome, delaying action for more than a half-hour. And when play resumed, San Francisco quickly scored 17 consecutive points to make things more than interesting.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘There’s no way. There’s no way we stop them here, but we did,” Flacco said.
“I tell you what: We don’t make it easy. But that’s the way the city of Baltimore is. That’s the way we are.”
Flacco put off contract renewal talks during the season, preferring to wait until the campaign was over. It was a smart decision, as his value will soar after a superb postseason and Sunday’s MVP performance.
He could well wind up with one of the biggest deals in NFL history, perhaps commanding somewhere in the neighbourhood of $US20 million ($A19 million) a year.
Jason
Guest
I agree. If for nothing more than his dancing.
mushi
Roar Guru
I don’t really know how to help you with that. When you figure out how to get US media to be anything more than superficial analysts of any game let me know. As to the line men basically you team can’t function without good blocking on offence and can’t control the chains without the ability to create some pressure without blitzing on defence. The best cover corner in the world will still get burnt if asked to cover a receiver for three seconds after the QB has completed his drop and the worst corner will look like a pro bowler if the opposing QB is never allowed to take more than a three step drop without getting pressured. It is the battle at the line of scrimmage that allows for versatility. I think Kc Joyner did some analysis that for running backs there is virtually no difference between the scrubs and stars when they get bad blocking, where the difference comes in is what they do with an open lane. So no open lanes and Petersen gets no MVP.
RebelRanger
Guest
fair enough NFL analysts but what about the guys that are always handing overall awards to QBs, RBs and receivers? To be honest I've never given lineman thought. They do have a great effect but I don't appreciate them as much as their skills are less versatile.
mushi
Roar Guru
there are stats on that - just not in the box score. Plenty of NFL analysts keep track of things like times targeted (as a DB) and yards per target etc. The guys who really don't get credit are the linemen winning the blocking battle has a greater influence on the outcome of a game than skill position play.
RebelRanger
Guest
Defensive players never get enough credit ! A QB knows the route receivers are running. I can't believe DBs who diagnose plays in a split second and react with absolute athleticism don't get more honours. A QB will always have bigger numbers as they have the ball in every play. Whereas a player like Revis might not have a single tackle, int, deflection because no balls were passed there way. A stat should be recorded for every play thats NOT passed to a player he was marking because the coverage was good. I personally thought Boldin should have won MVP. Made a few clutch plays with tight coverage and made Flacco look good.
mushi
Roar Guru
I don’t mean his effort will drop off more that there is no way on gods green earth that Flacco is the best player in the game so under a salary cap paying him as such should see any GM fired. The Ravens D and his line were as responsible as he was for those wins. His regular season QBR suggests he is a replacement level starter (which remained the basic assessment of him prior to the super bowl win) He played well these playoffs, no doubt, but to somehow convert a four game stretch into an argument that he is the best player in the league is a massive stretch that defies rational thought
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Not sure about that, Flacco wants to get into ( if not already) that elite category of QB's so I don't see his performance dropping off with a huge contract extension.
mushi
Roar Guru
If he ends up on the biggest deal in the NFL then that team is screwed.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Jones would have also been worthy but when a QB steers his team to a win and playing exceptionally well he will likely win the MVP. Disappointed Niners fan !
Jonesy74
Guest
I thought Jacoby Jones could have won it. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].
Brandon Marlow
Roar Pro
I'm not liking that the Superbowl MVP has become a Quarter Back's medal.