I know a lot of the regular posters here have opinions about Joe Flacco as the Ravens QB. There's been a lot of talk about his "regression" during his sophomore season. Most seems skeptical and some borders on downright hate. I'm on the opposite side, as I see Flacco as a genuine franchise QB who only has room to grow. But, I think, to be even-handed, that I would have to admit that some (and I mean only a small amount) of Flacco's decisions have been poor and I'm sure that's something he will grow out of with more experience. A lot of his troubles this season have been due to two things - imo -  a mix-and-match OL that sometimes shines and sometimes looks like a living version of Madden...  and poor play calling by Cam. Flacco is not a scrambler. Give him a solid pocket and 2-3 seconds to make the pass and he (and his stats) will certainly improve. Give him plays that call for more than Mason as the primary receiver or Rice on the screen and he can deliver. But, I think he might just need a better "role model" to get him to grow to the next level. Here's where Hue Jackson comes in. I think Flacco probably needs a QB coach whose own style was more akin to what we expect of Flacco. Jackson's previous experience was working primarily with Vick at Atlanta - and I think we'd all agree that Flacco is not even close to the Vick style - and working with receivers at Cincy. Not the best qualifications (imo) for a QB coach for someone in the Flacco mold. Not sure who I'd bring in, of course, or even who's available. Strangely enough, Harbaugh's brother Jim had a similar style (if I recall correctly), but he's committed to Stanford and I'm sure the Harbaugh haters would really loathe the idea of the Harbaugh bros. coaching... I think Vinny Testaverde might be good but certainly any former (SUCCESSFUL) QB who's tall and was mostly a pocket/distance passer should be able to help Flacco with problems and move him to the next level. Thoughts???

There - I've said it. Certainly some blame could be placed on the coaches doorstep, IF there was evidence that they had not tried to instill discipline into the players. We don't have that. Unlike the numerous tales of Billick's country club training camps and 'do what you want' locker rooms, we have no anecdotal evidence that Harbaugh and Co. have not tried to make the players more disciplined. And even if they have, it's not completely their fault that it's not working.

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