Is Joe Flacco Elite?

Joe Flacco got rid of his moronic mustache and
then won a Super Bowl. Coincident, I think not.

The short answer, no. Now here is the long answer.

This will be a question that rages on all offseason long. With Flacco's contract up, he will certain want to be paid like he is elite after one of the most impressive runs by a quarterback in playoff history. However, I do not think it would be wise for any team to pay him with the likes of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, and I truly doubt the Ravens will make that mistake.

The conversation on Flacco's worth might rage on for another year or more because it is likely that the two sides do not find any common ground in their contract negotiations and Flacco gets the Franchise Tag for one more season before he is handed the elite money he desires.

Back to the question at hand. Let's start with what it means to be an elite quarterback. To be an elite quarterback, you must be the unquestioned leader of your team, you must be able to win by putting your team on your back, and you must make the players around you better. Has Flacco done all of that through the last four playoffs games? Absolutely. However, to be considered elite, you must do all of those things consistently. Four games, no matter how important those four games are, should not quiet the questions about Flacco's wild inconsistencies that he has shown throughout his career.

Much like Matt Ryan, Flacco is a completely different player at home than he is on the road. Every quarterback should play their best in front of their home crowd, but not many fall apart in such spectacular fashion the way Flacco can while facing a hostile environment. He will never be considered elite if he continues to have these types of games with such regularity.

Even during this regular season, Flacco had seven games in which he threw for less than 200 yards. Unsurprisingly, the Ravens lost over half of those games mostly due to his poor play and ineffectiveness. Flacco led an offense that was middle of the pack all season long in both passing yards and total yards, despite the Ravens' consistent attempt to add talent around him at both the offensive line and offensive skill positions. With an aging defense, Flacco and the rest of this offense is going to have to step up and start carrying the defense for the first time in Ravens' history.

I believe that it will be the 2013 season that defines who Flacco is as a quarterback, not this season. We all knew that Flacco had the ability to have this type of a performance, but few, including myself, thought that he could be consistent enough to string together even four straight solid games. For Flacco to even be considered elite, he must improve on his consistency and avoid having those games in which he seemingly regresses into that raw quarterback from Delaware. With the retirement of Ray Lewis, there will be a huge void in leadership and Flacco's teammates will look to him to step up as their unquestioned leader.

That is a lot for a young quarterback to take on, but if he wants to become elite and get paid close to $20 million dollars a year, it will be the least that is expected of him over the rest of his career.