The Wait Pays Off For Flacco

At the conclusion of the 2011 NFL season, Joe Flacco was in talks for  a long term deal with the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens had offered Flacco a deal that would pay him about $15 million a year. Flacco and his agent Joe Linta decided that they were not interested in the offer. That decision paid off in a big way for the Joe's. Flacco said the entire time that he thought he was worth more and deserved more respect.

Flacco has become the recent recipient of a six year deal worth $120.6 million. Of this deal $52 million is guaranteed. The guaranteed money includes a $29 million signing bonus. In comparison, Drew Brees signed a five year deal worth $100 million. Of the $100 million, $40 million was guaranteed. The new deal for Flacco has many wondering if he is worth the money.

Flacco was the beneficiary of great timing. His contract expired the year after he won the Super Bowl. Although he may not be the most talented player in the NFL, it is difficult to imagine Flacco not making the big bucks coming off a Super Bowl championship. Timing was a key factor for Flacco's huge deal, but his numbers also show his consistency as a quarterback.

Since 2008, Flacco has played in all 16 regular season games. In the five seasons, Flacco has thrown for 102 touchdowns to 56 interceptions. He has a completion percentage of just over 60 percent. His regular season number may seem just a bit better than average, but his playoff numbers have shown he is a clutch quarterback.

Flacco has shown improvement when it comes to playoff football. I his five seasons, he has made the playoffs and played more than one game every season. His first season in 2008, he played in 3 playoff games but only had one touchdown and threw three interceptions. The story was similar in 2009. Flacco played in two games and did not throw a touchdown and had three interceptions. The 2010 playoffs showed improved numbers. In the two games he played, he threw three touchdowns and one interception. The 2011 playoffs in which Flacco played two games, he posted average numbers. This season Flacco had a breakout playoffs. In the four playoff games he played he did not throw an interception, he also had eleven touchdowns.

Final Thought
Flacco timed his contract perfectly. He put on an impressive performance throughout the playoffs that concluded with him being named the Super Bowl MVP. The Baltimore Ravens were put in a position that they needed to pay the franchise quarterback. I do not think this contract means that Flacco is the most talented quarterback in the league. I do however feel Flacco is worth every penny of the contact that will make him the highest paid player in the National Football League.

@dmrosen7 

NFL's Exciting Weekend

For NFL fans around the country this weekend was filled with extremely exciting playoff football. Anyone who is not a fan of the Broncos, Texans, Seahawks or Packers probably enjoyed watching the exciting games. Did the excitement lead to high TV ratings? Lets take a look.

Denver vs. Baltimore
This may have been the most exciting of the four games (it's difficult to decide). John Fox will be criticized for taking a knee with 30 seconds still left in the game, Manning will be criticized for throwing an ill-advisied pass that was picked off, Holliday will be remembered for memorable kick returns. To some the most memorable storyline of the double overtime game will be the continuance of Ray Lewis' career. Although Baltimore and Denver aren't known as monster TV markets, this great game sure got the viewers tuned in. The games TV rating was 20.1% of US households. This is up 9% from last year's Saturday AFC divisional game and is the highest rating for the Saturday AFC divisional game in 19 years. The game averaged 35.3 million viewers.

Green Bay vs. San Francisco
This game was not nearly as dramatic as the earlier Saturday game. A lot of scoring was featured and the country got to witness 49er's quarterback Colin Kaepernick play a truly unbelievable game. The TV ratings were mixed for this game. Fox's overnight rating was 18.7% of US households, which was the highest Fox rating for a Saturday prime time game since 1994, but the ratings were down 9% from last years comparable coverage of New England vs. Denver.

Atlanta vs. Seattle
This was my personal favorite game of the weekend. The Sunday earlier game provided the viewer with a true range of emotions. We watched Atlanta blow a 20 point lead with 30 seconds to go. Atlanta then marched down the field to hit a game winning 49 yard field goal. It was the first playoff victory for Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez. Seattle's Russell Wilson put on a great performance that nearly lead the Seahawks to a remarkable comeback win. The TV ratings for this game were very good. The 21.3% of US households rating was up 3% from the comparable coverage of Baltimore vs. Houston last year.

New England vs. Houston
Although Houston tried to make a comeback late, New England looked really good in this game. The Patriots offense looked great as usual even after losing 'Gronk' early on. This game did produce a solid TV rating of 23.8% of US households, but this rating was down considerably from last year. The Giants vs. Packers played in the Sunday primetime slot last year and that game had a 13% higher rating.

Final Thought
When looking at the TV ratings, it is important to remember that the US population is growing every year so it is natural for more viewers to be tuning in. I personally watched all of the games and enjoyed them greatly. I think it is important to remember that as great as the NFL is, it is far from flawless. It is the sport that ends athletes career's too soon, it destroys players lives post-football, and often takes the lives of people earlier than expected. It is a vicious sport that will never truly change unless the viewers stop tuning in (not going to happen) or a player actually dies while playing (probably still wouldn't change the sport). I am the first to admit that I am part of the problem, I watch the games knowing how much harm it is going to cause players. How many lives it will destroy. How many families will be devastated. I don't know if I will ever be able to stop watching the NFL even though I know the harm it causes. I certainly do not expect the American public to stop watching the NFL anytime soon.

@dmrosen7






Statistics via usatoday.com