In the final installment of comparing Joe Flacco to some of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, this week we look at the numbers of Ben Roethlisberger.
I have the utmost respect for Roethlisberger as a quarterback. He is tough, physical, and epitomizes what the position should represent, but let’s take a closer look at his playoff numbers compared to Flacco’s. Both have played in 15 playoff games.
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Ben has a slight advantage when it comes to overall completion % and yardage, but Flacco has a far better TD to INT ratio and better QB rating. Out of each QB’s respective 15 playoff games, Ben has played just 7 of those away from Pittsburgh compared to Flacco’s 12 road games.
As I stated with Brady last week, kudos to the Steelers for having more regular season success than the Ravens since 2005, but it is quite remarkable that Flacco has arguably the better numbers when playing in only 2 true home games compared to Roethlisberger’s 8.
Now that you know that each QB has played in 15 playoff games, and Flacco has had to play far more of those on the road, would you believe that both QBs have identical records in those games?
Think about it….Flacco has better playoff numbers than Ben Roethlisberger. Both have played in 15 playoff games, and each has 10 wins. Yet Flacco has played only a quarter of the amount of home playoff games as Ben Roethlisberger with 12 road games. That is a testament to both Flacco’s talents, his mindset, and his uncanny ability to stay calm under the fiercest of circumstances.
In defense of Roethlisberger, he is 3-1 in his 4 career road playoff games, and is 2-1 in Super Bowls. His road playoff numbers are quite impressive as well, which shows how similar he is to Joe Flacco.
Head-to-head, Ben has had the advantage over Flacco. In 13 meetings since 2008, including 3 playoff games, Ben holds an 8-5 record over Joe, with better overall statistics to boot.
But Roethlisberger started that record at 6-0, meaning Flacco has gone 5-2 since that time. In the 7 most recent games, Flacco has greatly out-performed Roethlisberger. Take a look:
The above stats cover the 2011-2014 seasons, minus 2012 when Roethlisberger was too hurt to play against the Ravens.
Much like the previous two comparisons to Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, this article is not meant to suggest that Joe Flacco is a better quarterback than Ben Roethlisberger. It is meant, however, to strongly suggest he is in the conversation with some of the best quarterbacks of this generation. He has more wins (82) than any other quarterback since 2008, and his stats are pretty darn comparable as well, especially in the playoffs.
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Trolling 101 says it’s easy to suggest that all 3 of those quarterbacks are “better” because they throw for more yards and more TDs every season. While those stats are flashy, they aren’t as important outside of fantasy football. In all 3 of these comparisons and out of all 4 of these QBs, Flacco is 4th in playoff yards since 2008, but he has the most wins.
Each quarterback has 1 Super Bowl victory since 2006. Each team is different. Some teams require their QB to throw for 350+ yards every game in order to have success, but the true measure of a quarterback’s worth is how frequently he does enough of what is required to get the team the W.
Flacco does that better than just about any other quarterback.
That’s elite in my book.
