Joe Flacco has a chance to get revenge on the NY Jets in Week 17

It is no secret that I was not a fan of Joe Flacco’s time with the NY Jets. He was a former franchise QB who was no longer valued by his franchise and dumped to the curb in favor of an MVP player (Lamar Jackson).

He tried to bounce back, but in eight games with the Denver Broncos, he had six touchdowns and five interceptions for a 2-6 record and one 300-yard game in that span. 

He went from October 14, 2019, to September 18, 2022, without winning a single game. He played in 10 games over those three years, and while he looked good in one of them (a game in 2020 vs the Patriots), his immobility or a costly pick would do the team no favors.

Even that one win he had in 2022 was arguably the flukiest win in NFL history that I’m sure the Browns could win in 99 consecutive simulations if given a chance. He followed up that fluke win by having zero touchdowns and five(!) turnovers in the other three games played that year.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic that the Jets decided to move on from a guy who seemed to be so far from the player who won Super Bowl MVP in 2012. 

Joe Flacco has had a resurgence after leaving the NY Jets

But seemingly out of the blue, Joe Flacco was called off the couch by the lone team that had allowed him to win in four seasons and became their starter after injuries continued to ravage their roster. He threw for 254 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in a loss but has since won three straight games. 

Looking at the stat sheet, the only thing separating the wins from the losses is that he’s thrown for 300+ yards and 2+ turnovers in all three wins, but everything else is very similar.

He has alternated between two and three touchdowns each game (two is next in the pattern) and has attempted 42-45 passes for a below-average completion percentage.

Of course, looking at the game footage, this looks like a man rejuvenated. He was almost brought to tears recounting how he transitioned from the couch to the playoffs in just a few weeks, and he is truly playing like a man with absolutely nothing to lose.

He has displayed more mobility at age 38 than Tim Boyle has at any point of his NFL career and has shown the same willingness to air out the football that he always has. Perhaps the difference is that Amari Cooper is out there to help him out.

In actuality, this is both the best offensive line and defense play he’s received in quite some time, and I imagine those are helping him ‘manage situations’ in a way that best suits his current skill set.

This week, he faces the team that discarded him in favor of Boyle, and perhaps he is licking his chops to rub in how bad of a decision that supposedly was.

While I believe Flacco wouldn’t look too different than Trevor Semian behind the Jets’ offensive line, every other article you read this week will try to convince you that the Jets made the wrong choice by cutting a guy who was an over-the-hill immobile turnover machine with one win in four years of football.

I hope Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich are prepared to face a man who is utterly determined to try to prove those articles right.