Like Brady, Flacco a film buff

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — - As the undefeated Ravens measure themselves against the New England Patriots today, it's difficult to do the same with their starting quarterbacks.

The Patriots' Tom Brady has won three Super Bowls, and the Ravens' Joe Flacco hasn't played three seasons. Flacco prefers casually walking through the front door of Bonefish Grill, and Brady tries to avoid paparazzi when whisking his Brazilian supermodel wife to the trendiest restaurants in Boston. Brady kicks back in limousines, and Flacco turns down the dealership when it wants to pick up his car for an oil change.

The common ground between them is neither on the field nor the public lifestyle they lead. It's tucked away in the dark rooms of their team headquarters, where Brady and Flacco reveal the same passion for film study.

They don't want to simply play quarterback. They want to master it.

"They're just dedicated," said the Ravens' Kelley Washington, who is the only wide receiver to play with Brady and Flacco. "Joe has had some success early in his career, and he's trying to make his mark just like Brady has already made his mark."

Most coaches and players would agree that Flacco's 14-5 record as a starting quarterback - coincidentally the same as Brady's after 19 regular-season games - is the result of relentless work leading up to games.

It starts every Tuesday morning, his supposed one day off. Flacco goes into the Ravens' facility, where he'll watch film, meet with some coaches and watch some more film. Some team officials think Flacco spends more time there than at his home.

He's the equivalent of a gym rat in basketball. In the Ravens' world, he's The Castle rat.

When Flacco does go home, he watches another hour of the opponent's defense on his computer. But when he relaxes and turns on HBO's " Entourage," he is still not off the clock.

"There are definitely times when you sit there and you think about [football]," Flacco said. "But that's what we do. This is our job. We don't have anything else to think about."

Football is a mind game for Flacco. He understands how to break down defenses, recognizing personnel, formations, blitzes and coverages.

But there is no hard evidence of his laborious efforts. By the time he finishes dissecting hours of film for the week, he'll have a little over one full page of notes.

"I like to store it in my brain," Flacco said. "When I'm watching film, I'm taking it all in. I like to get a feel for it. I want to get to the point where I just react to things."

Brady is just as intense in how he digests film, according to Washington. The day before games, he holds a meeting with the quarterbacks and wide receivers to go over a tape he had made of the Patriots' practices. No coaches allowed.

Last month, New England coach Bill Belichick acknowledged for the first time that Brady is "hard to coach."

"You have to be better prepared than he is because he sets such a high standard with his preparation and his level of understanding," Belichick told NBCSports.com.

Flacco's interaction with his coaches often shows how much he has learned.

In between offensive series, Flacco gets on the phone, where he typically receives some instruction from quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson. After one series last Sunday, it was Flacco who had something to say, explaining how a Cleveland Browns safety was in a different position on the field than what the Ravens had practiced during the week.

"To me, that's very impressive," Jackson said. "That's not usually seen in young guys. Normally, you have to go through those wars to understand those things. I want to say it's all because of our preparation … but a lot of it is just Joe."

Jackson added, "He is able to recall information as good as anybody as I've ever been around."