Kevin Cowherd: Ravens' Flacco adamant that just making playoffs isn't enough

Joe Flacco was positively chatty at the Castle the other day, and it was something to see.

Maybe he'd just knocked back a couple of Red Bulls. Or maybe he'd been locked in a closet and hadn't talked to anyone in days.

But asked whether he appreciated making the playoffs every year and about his desire to go deeper in the postseason this time, the Ravens quarterback dropped his usual monotone and grew animated.

"I do [appreciate it]," he said. "I don't know if everybody else does — just because it's a tough thing to do in the NFL. But we're a good organization and a good football team, and we're getting everybody used to the fact that we're going to be in the playoffs every year. And hopefully we can keep it going.

"To be honest with you, it's not good enough for us. It's not good enough for anybody around here, just getting to the playoffs. We've seen that. We've won a playoff game the last three years, and it hasn't been good enough. And it's not good enough for us.

"We need to go out there and start playing our best football right now. And that's what we're excited about. We're excited about going out there and continuing to improve and really get to the point where we're playing our best football so that we can go into these playoffs and have a lot of success, rather than just success."

Whew. Ravens fans will recognize that this constitutes a major speech for the normally taciturn Flacco.

But it was nice to hear him speak about a Super Bowl run with such passion, especially since passion is what certain fans in this town always accuse him of lacking.

It was good to hear him sounding so positive, too, because it has been a rough week for him, and a rough week for the Ravens.

They get ready now to play the hapless Cleveland Browns on Christmas Eve in their own house, which looks like a breather on paper. But how is it a breather when you're still haunted by another ugly road loss, this one a 34-14 knockout on national TV, courtesy of the San Diego Chargers?

Oh, no one in their right mind blames solely Flacco for that one. The whole team stunk. The defense looked awful, especially the pass rush and the secondary, which got sliced up by Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers more than any roast you'll put on the table this weekend.

But the offense looked bad, too, and so did Flacco at times. Sure, he was sacked five times. And there were occasions when his receivers were so well covered, he had to eat the ball. But he threw two interceptions and seemed hesitant at times to release the ball.

And the bottom line was this: He didn't make enough plays to win this one for the Ravens.

So he takes the heat for the loss, more than anyone else on the team because that's in the job description. Fairly or unfairly, after losses, the quarterback takes much of the blame. He's like the soldier who falls on the hand grenade to save the rest of the platoon.

This week, Flacco does what you always have to do after a loss. You move on. You get ready for the next opponent. You get ready for the Browns, in this case. And maybe you take out a week's worth of frustration and humiliation on them, a 4-10 team that's been beaten like a rented mule all season.

But when he spoke up the other day, Flacco was delivering a message: We know what's expected around here. And it's more than just making it to the postseason.

And when a reporter followed up to ask whether Flacco was referring to anyone specifically who might not appreciate the Ravens' making the playoffs four years in a row — was that a shot at your critics, Joe? — he grinned.

"No," he said, "I'm saying that you brought up the fact that … everybody around here is used to the fact you're going [to make the playoffs]. Yeah, everybody is used to it. If we don't get in the playoffs, I can't imagine the reaction we'd get from people around here. It would not be good. It wouldn't be good after Week 17. It would just be bad all year.

"And thank God I have not experienced that yet. And you hope you never do. That's why we go to work every day and we work hard when we come in here and we go play the best we can on Sunday. Yeah, we lose a couple. And we do our best to correct those things and get back on [track]. … And we usually do a good job with that.

"But when it comes down to it, we do a good job of getting ourselves in the playoffs and beating good teams year-in and year-out."

Saturday, all they have to do is beat a bad team.

But it sure doesn't feel like a breather. Not after last week.

kevin.cowherd@baltsun.com

Listen to Kevin Cowherd on at 7:20 a.m. Tuesdays on 105.7 The Fan's "The Norris and Davis Show."

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