The Ravens Are Sticking With Flacco

Last week John Harbaugh announced that his rookie quarterback, leading the Ravens to a 2-2 record, would be his starter for the rest of the season. How did Joe Flacco repay his coach for such a gesture? By throwing three interceptions, no touchdowns and recording his second lowest quarterback rating in his short stint in the NFL.

No worries young Flacco, Harbaugh announced yesterday that he was sticking with the rookie and has no reason to be thinking of a quarterback switch.

"We believe he's our starter. Joe's our guy," Harbaugh said. "I'm never a guy that's going to sit up here and say, 'Never ever.' But I don't envision a scenario today where Joe is not going to be our starter this year, save an injury."

To Flacco's defense, he hasn't exactly been able to snooze through the last three weeks. Winning the first two games against lackluster opponents, the Ravens have faced the Steelers, the Titans and the Colts, who looked very 2006 on Sunday.

Nonetheless, the tough opponents can't hide the fact that Flacco has only thrown one touchdown to his seven interceptions and is the lowest rated quarterback in the league to play five games.

"[Quarterback] is a very complicated position to play," Harbaugh said. "It's not so basic as speed of the game. There are a number of elements within a play or within a defense that can confuse a quarterback. But I would not categorize him as being confused. I think he's learning."

The bright side for Flacco is he is starting a descent in the Ravens schedule, facing the Dolphins, Raiders, Browns and Texans over the next four weeks. None of these pass defense are ranked in the top-10, with Miami and Oakland in the bottom seven of the NFL. If there is a time for Flacco to show the rest of the league why Harbaugh had so much confidence in him, it is over this next month.

It won't get any easier after Houston, as the Ravens face only one team in their last seven games currently sporting a losing record.