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Alright Baltimore, get ready to be angry.
I've written before about how little respect our beloved Ravens get from the national media, but this is ridiculous: A new piece on SportsIllustrated.com ranks the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL, and puts Joe Flacco at number 22—behind Tim Tebow at number 5 (!), NFL interception leader Phillip Rivers of the 5-7 San Diego Chargers (18), rookie Christian Ponder of 2-10 Vikings (20), and even third-stringer T.J. Yates, who started his first game ever last Sunday and completed just 50% of his passes (21).
In his commentary on Flacco, Jim Trotter writes, "Baltimore is tied for the best record in the AFC, but Flacco is on pace to throw for his fewest touchdowns since his rookie season in 2008. His 55.3 completion percentage also is a career low. Normally he would be higher in the rankings, but if a player has shown us more but gives us less, it's tough to give him full credit."
Well, maybe if Flacco can drop his completion percentage by 5 or 6 points he can work his way up to Yates on the list.
Perhaps the most maddening thing about this clueless list is the placement of Tebow at number 5. By all accounts, Tebow is a terrible quarterback—he's completed 47.5% of his passes—but he gets credit because he "just wins." Well, guess what, Joe Flacco's Ravens are 9 and 3. In fact, Flacco is kinda the Ur-Tebow. For three straight years, he's led his Ravens into the playoffs and won at least one game there each time (the first quarterback ever to do that in his first three seasons). He's never had great numbers, but he's a solid leader, and he has consistently found ways to win. Maybe if Tebow keeps up what he's doing for another 3 or 4 years, he'll earn his way down to number 22 on some asinine Sports Illustrated list.
