A decade is coming to a close. There was a lot of great moments in the past decade of Ravens football. Joe Flacco was crowned Super Bowl MVP at the end of the 2012 season. Lamar Jackson catapulted the Ravens into a new era to close out the decade. Here is the offense of the Baltimore Ravens all-decade team.
Quarterback: Joe Flacco
It was tempting to put Lamar Jackson here. Jackson has already eclipsed Flacco’s career high for touchdown passes and is maybe the most exciting player the Ravens ever had. This however, is an All Decade team. The past era of Ravens football has been defined by Joe Flacco. He bet on himself, won a Super Bowl and got a huge contract from the purple and black. Flacco had some great moments, but he never quite lived up to the expectations that come with being a highly paid, Super Bowl winning quarterback. Flacco was a constant though. He was stability at the most important position in the game.
The 2011 AFC Championship Game saw him out duel Tom Brady only for it to be ruined by Lee Evans and Billy Cundiff. The 2012 season saw Flacco have the most magical stretch of his career. Flacco had 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions in that Super Bowl winning run. After getting past Peyton Manning‘s Denver Broncos, with a 70 yard touchdown pass that forced overtime, Flacco got revenge against Brady’s Patriots. Flacco played amazingly in the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers.
Flacco’s best season after the Super Bowl was the 2014 season. Flacco had 27 touchdown passes with Gary Kubiak calling the offense. The Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, in Pittsburgh, to get to another playoff battle against the Patriots. Flacco gave the Ravens a shot to win but a shaky secondary gave up two 14 point leads during the course of the game. The Ravens would go on to miss the playoffs in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The Flacco era may not have finished as smoothly as the Ravens Flock may have hoped, but Flacco deserves respect and appreciation. He was the quarterback for just over a decade. Jackson can have the next decade, Flacco gets the top spot here.