It’s not as though Joe Flacco hasn’t led his team to upset victories over Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots before.
It’s just he hasn’t done it in a game with such little meaning.
Flacco likely will get the nod at quarterback, over injured Sam Darnold, for the winless New York Jets on Monday night when the Patriots visit.
You’ll recall that the two of Flacco’s highlights while quarterbacking the Ravens from 2008-18 were upset playoff victories over the Patriots, both in Foxboro — 33-14 in the wild-card round in January 2010, and 28-13 in the AFC championship game in January 2013. The latter preceded Baltimore’s win in Super Bowl XLVII.
Flacco might have made it three upset playoff wins in New England if, in the AFC championship game in January 2012, then-Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff hadn’t shanked a 32-yard field goal at the end, which would have forced overtime.
There’s not much at stake this time, unless you’re a Jets fan determined to see your 0-8 team finish last overall, to secure the No. 1 overall draft pick next April. Or unless you’re a Patriots fan convinced your team — an unaccustomed 2-5 entering the second Monday in November — still has a shot at a playoff berth.
Jets head coach Adam Gase on Saturday said Darnold, the Jets’ designated starter since being drafted third overall in 2018, is expected to miss his third game after aggravating an injury to his right throwing shoulder in practices this past week.
“Unless something strange happens, Joe will be the starter,” Gase said.
Darnold first sprained that AC joint more than a month ago, against Denver. He started last Sunday’s blowout loss at Kansas City, left for a bit after a nasty sack, then continued playing. He didn’t practise Thursday or Saturday, and was limited Friday.
“As (Friday) practice went on he felt there were some throws he wasn’t comfortable with,” Gase said. “It was more him communicating to us that he didn’t feel (the shoulder) felt the way that it should. I’m glad that he did that … I think it sucks for him.”
New York is 0-2 this season when Flacco starts, 0-6 when Darnold does.
Flacco started eight games last season in Denver, where the Ravens traded him once it became clear Lamar Jackson was in full bloom. The Broncos won two of those games before Flacco suffered a season-ending neck injury.
Cut free by Denver after the season, the 35-year-old signed as a backup to Darnold in May. He didn’t recover from his neck injury until the regular season began, thus he missed all team drills in New York’s abbreviated training camp.
Flacco thus is learning Gase’s offence on the fly, basically, in games.
“He’s transitioning to a lot of (new) stuff,” Gase said. “Every week is really great for him, for being able to process things in his brain faster, being able to play quicker.
“Everything moves quicker for him now than it did even two weeks ago.”
Since early October 2018, when his play began to sour in Baltimore, Flacco has lost 12 of his last 15 starts — and two of the three wins were due largely to his team’s defence shutting out the opposition.
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