As Ravens Push for Playoffs, It's Time for Joe Flacco to Prove His Worth

The Baltimore Ravens head to New Orleans on Monday night hoping to be the third team in three weeks to beat the Saints on their home turf. This is no easy feat—the Saints did not lose a single game at home a season ago, so it's hard to imagine that they'd drop a third straight game in the Superdome this week.

But stranger things have happened, and the Saints have just four wins. The Ravens, at 6-4 and coming off their bye week, are at least the better team on paper. But where the Ravens go depends on quarterback Joe Flacco. And Flacco is going to have to step up in the final weeks of the season to help his team reach the playoffs.

For what it's worth, Flacco is having a less erratic season than he has in the past. He's had only four games with a completion percentage below 60, compared to 10 last year. He has 17 touchdowns to eight interceptions, compared to 19 scores and 22 picks in 2013. Behind a much-improved offensive line, he's been sacked 14 times; last year, he was taken down a career-high 48 times.

As such, Flacco's completion percentage of 62.4 is the third-best of his career. He's making fewer mistakes, and to his benefit, the Ravens haven't found themselves playing from behind very often, limiting his pass attempts and, in turn, his mistakes. Flacco has just one multi-interception game this season.

Atts.	Comp.	Comp.%	Yds.	TD	INT	Yds./Att.	Yds/G.	Sacks
351	219	62.4%	2,521	17	8	7.2	252.1	14

Still, the Ravens' chances to win in New Orleans in Week 12 and through the rest of their rather difficult schedule hinge on Flacco. Justin Forsett is running well, the defense is playing solidly even with the loss of cornerback Jimmy Smith and the bye week couldn't have come at a better time for the Ravens to get, as head coach John Harbaugh said via The Baltimore Sun earlier in the week, emotionally and physically recharged.

But the center of this team is Flacco. He's the Ravens' $120.6 million-dollar man. He earned that contract because of stellar quarterback play down the stretch, particularly in the playoffs and Super Bowl two years ago. They need him to replicate that performance to secure his team a postseason berth, especially with the AFC North so close at present.

The Ravens have lost only once coming off the bye week in the Harbaugh-Flacco era, in 2013. This bodes well for their chances against the Saints. But Flacco's last four games haven't been as strong as his first six.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

In his first six games, Flacco threw 12 touchdowns to just three interceptions. In his last four, he's thrown five of each. This led offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak to revisit his game plan during the bye week and to simplify it.

Kubiak said to BaltimoreRavens.com's Garrett Downing on Wednesday, "I think the biggest thing for me is to make sure that maybe we're not doing too much. We're fixing to play six very tough games, and going into a very tough environment this week. You don't need indecision keeping you from being successful."

He added, "I was looking at the big picture. I was looking at everybody. But I was specifically trying to make sure that as we head into these last six weeks that if there are some things we aren't doing well, maybe we shouldn't be doing them, or get away from them."

There are certain things that Flacco does well, like throw the deep ball. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Flacco is tied for the third-best production when throwing the ball 20 yards or more. He has completed 14 of 36 attempts, for 466 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions.

He's also tied for eighth in the Accuracy Percentage metric, which accounts for dropped passes, throw aways, batted passes and instances where the quarterback is hit when thrown.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

However, there is one aspect of Flacco's game that has been lacking this year, which is curious for a Kubiak-coached offense—the play-action pass. Quietly, Forsett has proven to be one of the better running backs in the league, with 133 rushes for 721 yards and five touchdowns, giving him a 5.4 yards-per-carry average and 72.1 yards per game. He leads the Ravens in first downs, with 35.

With a back running this well, one would think the Ravens would employ the play-action pass more often. However, Flacco has thrown a play-action pass on just 18.4 percent of his dropbacks, a lower percentage than practically any other quarterback in the league.

He's been successful when he does go play-action, completing 40 of 63 passes for 437 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. His play-action completion percentage is 63.5, compared to 62.2 percent on non-play-action passes.

It might be time for Kubiak to take advantage of Forsett's strong running and use it to assist the passing game in the play-action. It also buys time for Flacco against the pass-rush.

Flacco has faced pressure on 30 percent of his dropbacks this season, and has completed 44.2 percent of his pressured passes for two touchdowns and two interceptions. That's a lot of pressure and not a lot of completions.

Team	Sacks	Rank
@ Saints	22	T-17
vs. Chargers	17	T-25
@ Dolphins	30	T-3
vs. Jaguars	28	7
@ Houston	21	19
vs. Browns	20	T-20

Though the Ravens only face two top-10 sacking defenses in their final six games, pressure doesn't have to always result in a sack to affect a quarterback and get him off his rhythm. The play-action can buy Flacco time and lead to fewer pressured snaps, as well as to more opportunities for Flacco to throw that deep ball he favors so much.

Quarterback play is crucial to a late-season playoff push. The Ravens have a good defense but not one that can carry them. The run game is solid, and the Ravens are a relatively run-heavy team. But the Ravens' upcoming opponents are going to require Flacco to pass the ball often, and well. 

Flacco is on his way to his career-best season, though nothing will match up with how masterfully he played in the Ravens' postseason stretch that led them to a Super Bowl victory. But his last month has not been as strong as his first six games. The bye week must produce a refocused Flacco intent on leading his team to as many wins as possible. 

This time of year is why the Ravens have paid Flacco so handsomely. Now, he must repay the organization by stacking up wins and edging out his AFC North competition once it's time for the playoffs to begin.