The Cleveland Browns beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-27 in Week 14 to become the only 8-5 AFC Wild Card team. This big win put them in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot, as the team now has a greater than 80% chance to make the postseason, while all the 7-6 teams in the conference still face a brutal fight to get in. Browns superstar defensive end Myles Garrett says a lot of the credit for the team’s continued success should go to third-string quarterback Joe Flacco, who was on his couch just a few weeks ago, and Garrett calls an “elite dragon.”
“'He's elite. I mean, he's just a dragon, man. I can't explain it,” Myles Garrett said after the big win. “Man picks up the playbook, scans through it, downloads it, and comes out here and throws for 300 yards.”
Flacco went 26-of-45 for 311 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the Browns win over the Jaguars in Week 14. Before that, he played one game with the team after signing on Nov. 20 following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending. Prior to that, he started nine games for the New York Jets from 2020-22. The last time Flacco started for a full season was in 2017 with the Baltimore Ravens, a year before Lama Jackson showed up.
The Joe Flacco ‘elite’ conversation
While no one has called Joe Flacco an “elite dragon” before, the first word and Flacco’s name have long been tied together. After the Ravens’ 2012 season, where the QB led his team (and its all-time great defense) to a Super Bowl win, the debate over whether Flacco was an “elite” quarterback raged.
Whether he was back then or not, he’s an elite find now for the Browns and Flacco could and should be a playoff QB again if he keeps playing like he’s playing now.