Joe Flacco's record number of playoff road wins is overblown
January 22, 2013By Adam B
After the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New England Patriots on Sunday to advance to Super Bowl XLVII, the media narrative machine kicked into high gear. With the win on the road, Joe Flacco tied Eli Manning as winningest road QB in NFL history. Sunday's AFC Championship triumph was the sixth road win in Flacco's career, and his second this season. Sounds impressive, right? He's a guy built for the bright lights and pressure cooker of the playoffs. When the stakes are highest, he just gets it done, and the playoff road win record is proof of that. Right? Well, not exactly. Let's take a look at the numbers in context.
First, it should be so obvious as to be understood, but let's state it anyway that playoff expansion has increased the number of opportunities to win playoff games. Going back to 1960, 78 different QBs have won road playoff games. Only 32 have won more than one. Of those 32, nine have won multiple road playoff games since 2002. So in the last 11 seasons since the league reorganized into its current four division, two wildcard format, just shy of one third of all QBs to record multiple road playoff wins recorded theirs. And lest you think that the list of QBs to only win one career road playoff game is populated by flotsam and jetsam that lucked into a good matchup one time, that list includes eight Hall of Famers: Troy Aikman, George Blanda, Bob Griese, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Warren Moon, Fran Tarkenton, and Johnny Unitas. To put it another way, those eight Hall of Fame QBs, some of the best to ever play the game, have combined for two more road playoff wins than Joe Flacco has in his short five years in the league. Of the 16 QBs since 1960 to win three or more road playoff games, only six played before the current format was adopted, and two of those, John Elway and Brett Favre, played in the previous 12 team playoff format.
Now let's move on to the reformatting of the playoffs in 2002. Between 1990 and 2001, the NFC and AFC were comprised of three divisions, and the winners of those divisions plus three wild card teams made up the playoff field. Since 2002, each conference featured four divisions of four teams each, with the winners of those four divisions plus two wild card teams making the playoffs. The new format made it easier for teams to make the playoffs, increasing the opportunity for teams to make the playoffs, and also increasing the chance for wild card teams to win road playoff games. At the same time, it decreased the number of opportunities for players on very good teams to win road playoff games. Since 2002, 22 different QBs have won road playoff games, and nine of those have won multiple games on the road. Four players have won four or more road playoff games since 2002 (out of the six total since 1960). At the top, of course, are Joe Flacco and Eli Manning, and they're followed by two immortal QB legends, Jake Delhomme and Mark Sanchez. Mark Sanchez and Jake Delhomme have as many career road playoff wins as Len Dawson. Len Dawson is in the Hall of Fame. Mark Sanchez and Jake Delhomme are Mark Sanchez and Jake Delhomme.
