Joe Flacco had a great game last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was even more impressive when you watched the film of it.
The Baltimore Ravens quarterback threw four touchdowns in the first quarter, which is phenomenal, and it’s even more impressive when you see that the four scores came against four different coverages.
[Join FanDuel's $500,000 Week 7 fantasy league: $10 to enter; top 10,102 teams paid]
Flacco was really locked in and here’s one way to tell: He was hitting his back foot and the ball was immediately coming out, no matter the coverage. That shows a great sense of timing and rhythm, and also of coverage recognition and where to go with the ball to beat it.
Here are Flacco’s first four touchdowns:
No. 1
Torrey Smith, 15 yards
Coverage: Cover 3 zone
The Ravens lined up in a “12” balanced set (one back, two tight ends) and the Buccaneers had eight in the box with “Cover 3” behind it. Cornerback Brandon Dixon was in press position, then he opened up and Smith had a clean release on a quick slant. Flacco hit him for the score.
No. 2
Smith, 9 yards
Coverage: Tampa 2 zone
On third and goal, the Ravens came out in “11” personnel and the Buccaneers ran a nickel coverage. The Buccaneers ran a “Tampa 2” coverage. In that defense there are two deep safeties, and the main difference between that and “Cover 2” zone is the middle linebacker drops to fill the deep middle void. Buccaneers linebacker Mason Foster opened to the three-receiver side, after running back Justin Forsett motioned out of the backfield and the Ravens showed an empty set.
Michael Campanaro and Smith were to the two-receiver side. Campanaro ran a hook route, to hold the underneath coverage, and Smith ran a quick in-breaking route in front of safety Major Wright. Flacco found Smith for the score.
No. 3
Kamar Aiken, 17 yards
Coverage: Cover 2 zone
Aiken was the inside slot receiver, running a seam route against the “Cover 2.” Aiken’s route was designed to split the two deep safeties. Flacco hit the fifth step of his drop and delivered right away with timing and accuracy.
The impressive part of the second and third touchdowns are that when teams run a “Cover 2” or “Tampa 2,” the coverage is designed to take away the three- and five-step drop throws. The pass rush takes care of anything more than that, but the coverage is supposed to eliminate the routes on short drops.
Flacco immediately recognized what the coverage was, understood the seam route would beat it and hit Aiken for the score. At first glance it looks like Aiken was wide open and this was an easy throw, but Flacco made it look easy because he recognized it so quickly.
No. 4
Campanaro, 19 yards
Coverage: Man free lurk
This score was impressive too, because the Buccaneers had a late rotation. They went from a two-shell before the snap, with two deep safeties, to a single-high safety look in “man free lurk.” Campanaro was running a vertical seam against the slot corner, Flacco read the coverage rotation immediately and threw to the right receiver.
Flacco is a very interesting player, from a public perception standpoint. He has never missed a start. He has the most wins (including playoffs) of any starting quarterback since 2008, when he entered the league. He has won a Super Bowl. Yet if you ask someone to give you the top seven or eight quarterbacks in the NFL, we all know the first four or five, and Flacco isn’t included. And he’s probably not mentioned in that next tier either. It’s interesting to me that certain quarterbacks, when they win a Super Bowl, get labeled as “winners,” but in Flacco’s case he doesn’t seem to hold that place.
I like Flacco as a quarterback. I think he has the strongest arm in the league as far as throwing intermediate and deep routes. And he’s an easy thrower. When he throws that 22-yard in route it’s like he’s throwing 5 yards. It’s effortless.
Steve Young said the best compliment he ever got was that he made it look easy when he played. He said that’s a great compliment because it’s really hard out there, and if it looks easy that means you’re playing at a high level. Joe Flacco made it look pretty easy last Sunday.
- - - - - - -
NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.
1.7k