Joe Flacco came through with his best statistical performance since Week 1 when he put up a ridiculous 125.6 quarterback rating and two touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts in the wildcard round. While Flacco did struggle in terms of accuracy throughout the game, he was able to make big play after big play in route to a 24-9 Ravens' victory.
He now takes on Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in a matchup that will decide who moves on to the AFC Championship Game. Let's take a look at what I expect from each of these quarterbacks, at least in terms of statistics for Saturday's divisional round game.
Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens
By now you already know that Flacco is nowhere near as successful on the road as he is at home. I guess he is missing his binky or something outside of M&T Bank Stadium, but his stats definitely tell us a story that isn't too kind to the perception that he will surprise skeptics this upcoming weekend.
Flacco averaged just 182 yards and threw seven total touchdowns on the road during the regular season. In total, Flacco has thrown 13 touchdowns in his last 14 road games. He has, however, performed extremely well on the road in the postseason recently. Over the course of his last three road playoff games, Flacco has thrown five touchdowns compared to two interceptions and tallied a quarterback rating of over 90.
He seems to be the type of player that gets up for big games.
Regular Season Average: 20/33, 239 yards, 1.4 touchdowns and 0.6 interceptions.
Regular Season Average (Away): 18/31, 182 yards, 0.9 touchdowns and 0.6 interceptions.
Projected Stats: 20/35, 235 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos
All the indicators heading into Saturday's game are completely different for Manning than they are for Flacco. I guess that happens to be the case every time a future Hall of Fame quarterback takes on a marginal starter on the other side. This is only magnified with Manning playing at home in front of 76,000 fans who believe he is some sort of deity.
After what we have witnessed this season, I wouldn't be surprised to see Manning part The Red Sea or planting some sort of olive branch at midfield dressed like Athena before actually suiting up. In short, he has been otherwordly in his first season in Denver.
Manning put up his best quarterback rating (105.8) since 2005 and absolutely shredded opponents at home, where he tallied a ridiculous 112.3 rating and 22 touchdowns compared to three interceptions.
The elder Manning brother has struggled to an extent in the postseason. While he is averaging 284 passing yards in 19 career playoff games, he is 9-10 in the second season and is averaging barely over two scores per outing.
Regular Season Average: 25/36, 291 yards, 2.3 touchdowns and 0.7 interceptions.
Regular Season Average (Home): 25/37, 298 yards, 2.8 touchdowns and 0.4 interceptions.
Projected Stats: 26/39, 305 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.