AFC Championship Game 2012: Flacco and Reed Put on Pointless Fight for Media

Ed Reed said Joe Flacco was "rattled" in the Ravens' Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans last weekend.

Flacco said the comments were "not that big a deal."

They left the practice field together and, as the Ravens blog put it:

"

[They] walked out to practice Thursday afternoon and pretended to get into an argument in front of reporters and television cameras.

Making light of a perceived tiff that has made national headlines this week, the two playfully shouted back and forth at one another.

"

The pointless attempt to shift attention away from Reed's words falls on blind eyes and deaf ears. For starters, Joe Flacco hasn't been a great quarterback in big games, and this Ravens team did only beat the visiting Texans with a third-string rookie quarterback by seven points.

There is no denying that the Ravens are where they are because of their dominant defense and Ray Rice's ability to make plays in the ground game.

Joe Flacco, who has won at least postseason game in each of his four years in the league, hasn't been able to elevate the Ravens to a Super Bowl. He's struggled at times this season when asked to throw the football too often, and last week against the Texans, a team that took away Ray Rice and the Ravens run game, he didn't look comfortable.

He was sacked five times, hit six overall and only threw for 176 yards. His two touchdown passes both came after the Texans turned the ball over in the shadow of the their own goal post.

If Flacco and Reed put it behind them, fine. They don't line up on the field at the same time and they basically do not have to work together. 

Reed's words have already been heard, though, and he wasn't necessarily wrong about what he said.

How Flacco will truly respond remains to be seen.