There were so many questions about Joe Flacco when he was coming out of the University  of Delaware in 2007. He was big and he could play. In fact, he was setting records for the Fighting Blue Hens. But there were still so many questions about what he could do on an NFL stage.

“He has the God-given ability. He’s 6-6. He has a cannon for an arm. He’s fast for a big guy. And he has ice water in his veins and he makes great game-day decisions,” said K.C. Keeler, Flacco’s college coach, near the end of his prized pupil’s first NFL season. “What else are you looking for?
“I told Cam (Cameron, the Ravens offensive coordinator) and (Ravens coach) John Harbaugh, ‘If this kid’s at USC, we’re having a debate about why he’s not the first overall pick.’”
Flacco, in fact, lasted until the 18th pick of the 2008 draft and he was the second quarterback taken behind Matt Ryan, who went third to the Atlanta Falcons. But Flacco’s already been to the playoffs twice and even to the AFC Championship Game once, as a rookie.
Now, two years later, he’s going to do something else to convince all the skeptics: He’s going to lead the Baltimore Ravens all the way to the championship of Super Bowl XLV.

Jump on the Green Bay Packers’ bandwagon if you want, ride with Brett Favre in Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage one more time, or even keep your faith in the heart-warming story of the Saints. But the 2010 season will belong to the most complete — and most dangerous team — in the NFL. The Ravens have all the ingredients any championship team could want, including a powerful defense, dangerous rushing attack and a scary arsenal of receivers.
The most important ingredient, though, is a quarterback who should take one final step in to the exclusive club of the NFL’s elite.
Actually, you could make a pretty good argument that the 23-year-old Flacco is already there after he completed 63.1 percent of his passes last season for 3,613 yards, 21 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions. He led the Ravens back to the playoffs, one season after leading them to the AFC title game, and his numbers all improved across the board.
He has, as Keeler said, a cannon for an arm. His accuracy has been uncanny and he’s shown a penchant for making all the right throws at the right time. As a rookie, he was asked to stay out of the way of the running game and the defense. Last year, though, Harbaugh unleashed his East Coast version of the Air Coryell offense and let Flacco show everyone what he could do.
Now, just imagine what he can do this year. The Ravens made the trade of the offseason when they acquired receiver Anquan Boldin from the Arizona Cardinals. Then, when they lost newly acquired Donte Stallworth for half the season to a broken foot, they proved they were serious about this Super Bowl thing by signing T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Add in versatile tight end Todd Heap and running back Ray Rice, who caught 78 passes for 702 yards last year to go with his 1,339 rushing yards, and you have one of the most potent offensive attacks in the NFL. And let’s not forget that the Ravens’ defense ranked third in the entire league in 2009.
So yes, Rex Ryan is guaranteeing Super Bowls in New York, Peyton Manning is still dangerous in Indianapolis, and Jerry Jones believes his Cowboys can win the championship at home. But there’s no better team in the NFL than the Ravens right now. And before it’s all over, Flacco might turn out to be the best quarterback, too.



The rest of my NFL picks


NFC EAST: Washington Redskins


NFC NORTH: Green Bay Packers


NFC SOUTH: Atlanta Falcons


NFC WEST: San  Francisco 49ers


NFC WILD CARD: Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings


NFC CHAMPS: Green  Bay Packers
 


AFC EAST: New England Patriots


AFC NORTH: Baltimore Ravens
AFC SOUTH: Indianapolis Colts


AFC WEST: San Diego Chargers


AFC WILD CARD: New York Jets, Houston Texans


AFC CHAMPS: Baltimore Ravens
 


SUPER BOWL CHAMPS: Baltimore Ravens

By Ralph Vacchiano

They were so bolstered by their success in December and January one year ago, so emboldened by the idea that they had finally gotten past their choke-filled recent history. When the Dallas Cowboys finally won a playoff game last January for the first time in 13 years, Jerry Jones was so sure his suffering was over that he stood in the middle of his team’s locker room and shouted “The demons are gone!”
Well, maybe they were. But they’re back. And the Cowboys’ train towards playing Super Bowl XLV in their own stadium may have gotten an early, self-inflicted derailment.
It was so stunning, in fact, that it’s hard to imagine this happening to anyone but the Cowboys — the team that once blew a playoff game when Tony Romo bobbled the snap on a game-winning 19-yard field goal. This may have been the season opener, not a playoff game, but the pain was just as bad.
It all started to unravel for the Cowboys on Sunday night when they were trailing the Washington Redskins 3–0, sitting at their own 36-yard line with time for one more play before the half. With 64 yards between them and the end zone and no time to get into field goal range, even the most casual football fan knows the only choice is to take a knee.
But Wade Phillips, the Cowboys’ always embattled coach, and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett would have none of that. They called for a “Hail Mary” pass, which was risky enough, but for some reason Romo decided to throw a short pass to running back Tashard Choice.
Then DeAngelo Hall, the Redskins’ quarterback, stripped him, recovered the fumble and returned it 37 yards for a game-changing touchdown that put Washington up 10–0 at halftime of a game they would go on to win 13–7.
Yes, the Cowboys nearly won it anyway — the game-winning, 13-yard touchdown pass was nullified on the final play of the game by a holding penalty on tackle Alex Barron. But that was poetic justice considering their remarkably stupid call at the end of the first half.
“That’s my fault before the half,” Phillips sais. “We should’ve taken a knee.”
That’s noble that he’d take the blame for a colossally bad decision, and I’m sure the feeling inside Valley Ranch is that one lost game and one bad call doesn’t mean their season is over. The problem is that these are the Cowboys and it’s always something, isn’t it? Year in and year out they seem to have as much talent as any team in football.
But something always seems to go wrong.
For years, in fact, that was the law. That’s why “America’s Team” had gone without a playoff victory since 1996. It wasn’t that Jones wasn’t willing to spend on top players or a top coach. It was … well, “demons” was about as good an explanation as anything else.
Then last year they pounded the Philadelphia Eagles 34–14 in the first round. Sure, they were crushed by the Minnesota Vikings one week later. But the big picture was still bright. Before last year, they were 5–8 in December under Romo. And things looked dire when they started last December 0–2.
But then they shocked the Saints in New Orleans and posted back-to-back shutouts over Washington and Philly before knocking off the Eagles in the playoffs, too. That’s a 4–0 stretch in the most important part of the season. They made smart calls, played well and did everything right. The demons, indeed, looked gone.
Then, as Jones saw on Sunday, those demons made an unexpected and unwanted return to the Cowboys’ locker room — though Jones, diplomatically, wasn’t fingering anyone with the blame.
“Everybody had a hand in some mistakes that kept us from winning this game,” Jones said. “I hate this for our fans. We know that the road to success in this thing has ups and downs, but I am surprised.”
Maybe it won’t matter. Maybe this is just a blip on the Cowboys’ Super Bowl radar. Maybe they now have the toughness to overcome it. Maybe they have the character in the locker room that it won’t disintegrate into a circus like it has done in previous years. Maybe one loss, one demon really can’t define a team.
But history — at least the last decade or so — isn’t exactly on the Cowboys’ side. Those demons got pretty comfortable inside their heads in recent years. For one night, it appeared those demons were back.