Quote:
Originally Posted by FloridaMan88
Joe Flacco is 2-0 vs Brady in the playoffs, does that mean Flacco is the GOAT over Brady?
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Joe Flacco is 2-2 vs Brady in the playoffs and 8-4 vs everyone else with one of those losses as a 39 year old shell of himself due to injuries/age. Not everyone ages like Brady.
Brady's 2 playoff losses to Flacco/Baltimore were without his best weapon on offense each respective playoff game. (first team all-pro Wes Welker, prime Gronk). The Chiefs were able to make a trade to partially fill in for Rice this year and had decent post season receiver depth but Welker's injury was too late in the season so Patriots relied upon rookie 7th round draft pick and college QB Julian Edelman to be one of the teams top targets. Edelman was still learning Patriots offense and receiver position. Moss was still very good but by that stage it really was Welker helping Moss more than Moss helping Welker. Moss never played well as a legit starter after that year and was traded by NE during the next season. Welker went on to have several more very good seasons with Brady/Manning.
So Brady's first playoff loss vs Baltimore was 14-0 against a great defense before Brady really made a single significant mistake. I don't blame an undefeated at the time playoff QB who doesn't hold onto the ball too long and gets the ball stripped quickly against a 3 man rush. That was on the left tackle. Rice taking it to the house on his first carry was on the defense. The Patriots were bad for a playoff team and just got blown out.
The next time the Patriots lost to the Ravens, they had a better team than that previous NE team that lost to the Ravens. But no shame in losing to the Super Bowl champ in AFC championship without Gronk. Baltimore was great that year.
Flacco is an example of a QB who usually didn't shrink in the playoffs in his prime when he was healthy. Flacco is a legit SB MVP and not even just a one year wonder in the playoffs. Tall QB with a strong arm and some mobility for his height in his 20's.
In fact, put Flacco in his 20's on the Ravens in the playoffs all these years instead of Lamar Jackson, I think the results are better than what Lamar has given them if both players had comparable talent to work with that fit their skills. In regular season, Lamar has been one of the best QBs of all time and certainly well ahead of regular season Flacco but Flacco's skills didn't diminish in postseason. Can people honestly state that about Lamar in the postseason?