Joe Flacco: not as elite as he used to be.
The Ravens quarterback played in more games, won more games, and threw for more yards and touchdowns than in 2015, but impress the American people, he did not.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 378 NFL fans last Monday and Tuesday and asked, among other questions: "Do you consider Joe Flacco to be a elite Quarterback or not?" (At this point, just assume the spelling and capitalization are an homage to PFT Commenter.)
Asked this question last year, 21 percent of respondents said Flacco was elite, 35 percent said he was not, and 44 percent were not sure.
This year, given the survey's 5 percent margin of error, about the same portion of fans said he was elite (22 percent). But 41 percent indicated that Flacco, a Super Bowl-winning, Pro Bowl-invited quarterback, was not elite. The undecided population dwindled to 37 percent of respondents.
Perhaps just as telling, Flacco was, for the second straight season, left off the polling service's list of candidates for favorite NFL quarterback. The New England Patriots' Tom Brady repeated as No. 1, with 22 percent of respondents picking him over Eli Manning, Cam Newton, Dak Prescott, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Tim Tebow, Russell Wilson, and "other" or "undecided."
Brady also was voted the least favorite among that group, ahead of Tebow and the Steelers' Roethlisberger.