Baltimore Ravens: How far can Joe Flacco take the team in 2018?

The pressure is on for Joe Flacco to meet expectations in 2018. He’s looked great in preseason thus far, but how far can Flacco actually take the Ravens?

Joe Flacco during the 2012 playoffs: 1,140 passing yards. 11 touchdowns, zero interceptions. 117.2 passer rating. Four playoff wins. One Super Bowl MVP award. One ring.

The 2012 playoffs is the best possible example of the kind of Joe Flacco you get when he’s properly motivated. With a shiny new contract on his mind and Baltimore legend Ray Lewis announcing his retirement following the playoffs, Flacco was ready to shine, and shine he did. The above stats place Joe Flacco’s playoff run as one of, if not the, greatest playoff performances of all-time.

Then, Flacco inked what was then the biggest contract in NFL history: Six-years, $120.6 million with $52 million guaranteed. Looking back, that contract looks pretty nice compared to what other quarterbacks are signing for these days. However, at the time this was unbelievable. This was an average quarterback who got paid the big bucks for a single playoff run.

As you would’ve expected at the time, Flacco struggled to live up to that contract. In fact, he has 100% failed to meet expectations assigned to him when he put pen to paper. The Ravens have made the post season once and Flacco still doesn’t have a Pro Bowl on his resume (albeit, he was cheated of one in 2014).

To Flacco’s defense, he hasn’t been given the tools to succeed whatsoever. A revolving door at Offensive Coordinator hasn’t allowed Flacco to gel and become acquainted to one offensive scheme. Meanwhile, pretty much a million-and-a-half faces have come-and-gone in the Ravens offense. While Flacco did get to spend some (limited) time with future Hall of Famer Steve Smith Sr., he was also “treated” to Breshad Perriman, Maxx Williams, and Jeremy Maclin. Additionally, he’s had lackluster talents such as Marlon Brown, Crockett Gillmore, Kamar Aiken… It’s a long, long list.

Excuses aside, Joe Flacco has failed to live up to expectations. Perhaps after signing his fat contract he no longer felt motivated to prove himself. Well if that’s the case, he must’ve been pissed when the Ravens selected Lamar Jackson with the 32nd overall pick during the 2018 NFL Draft.

Now this begs the question: Is Joe Flacco going to be properly motivated to play his best football in 2018? And more importantly, how far can a motivated Joe Flacco take the Ravens?