The Cleveland Browns were absolutely dismantled by the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season. While DE Myles Garrett was well aware of the betting line, the struggles on offense and special teams ended up wearing down the stellar defense and leading to a huge difference at the end of the game.
Everyone knew that the Browns schedule was tough, which was one of the reasons that QB Joe Flacco made sense. The idea was that the experienced veteran could help steady the ship against that tough schedule.
In Week 1, Flacco played well overall, but Cleveland couldn’t pull out the victory.
In Week 2, against the team he led to a Super Bowl victory and the “Is Joe Flacco elite?” conversation, Flacco fell flat on his face in a variety of ways. Flacco’s lack of movement skills was not surprising, but his poor choices, including one that ended up a Browns touchdown, are inexcusable.
Pulled from the lineup late in the fourth quarter, Flacco finished the game with the following stat line: 25 of 45 for 199 yards with one (very lucky) touchdown that should have been an interception and one interception on a very poor choice. Flacco also fumbled the ball on fourth down, leading to a Ravens scoop and score.
Since leaving Baltimore in 2019, Flacco has started 35 games with just nine victories. Four of those came in his short stint in Cleveland in 2023. In those seven seasons, including two games this year, Flacco has completed just 61% of his passes, along with 28 interceptions.
If the goal of starting Flacco was to give the team the best chance to win games, the Browns likely need to rethink that decision. If the decision to start Flacco was to protect Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders until the rookies were ready, Browns fans and the team’s defense are probably hoping that the youngsters are ready to go.
Week 2’s loss was not fully on Flacco, but the veteran’s mistakes were obvious problems.
The schedule doesn’t get easier with Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers up next, followed by the Detroit Lions on the road and a Week 5 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings over in London.
As for Flacco, “Flacco Fever” might have ended when his fatal flaw of throwing interceptions led to the Browns playoff loss two seasons ago. Looking back at his stat lines since 2018 (which doesn’t include Week 2 yet), the “Is Flacco elite?” conversation ended a long time ago:
Now the question: Is Flacco’s career as a starter officially over, poetically, with his final game coming in Baltimore against the team that drafted him?
What do you think about what is next for Flacco? Should he be done as a starter and, instead, be a player/coach type backup for the rest of the season? Do you think he’ll accept something like that?
