Joe Flacco has fared rather favorably against the AFC East over his 12-year career.
The Jets’ newly-signed backup quarterback has a owns regular season record of 13-6 against the division. Flacco is a combined 6-2 against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, 6-0 against the Miami Dolphins and 1-4 against the New England Patriots. In those 19 games, Flacco has completed over 63 percent of his passes for 5,056 yards while throwing 29 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.
Those stats don’t include Flacco’s playoff resume, which includes two wins over the Patriots in Foxborough. Fortunately for Flacco, this isn’t the same AFC East and he won’t have to worry about facing Tom Brady again. Of course, he’ll only start against these potential opponents if Sam Darnold suffers from an injury/illness, but the Jets can take solace in Flacco’s winning pedigree within the division.
As mentioned by NBC’s Peter King, Flacco’s best winning percentage against a division comes at the expense of the AFC East. With Darnold already missing six games in his first two seasons due to a foot injury and a bout with mononucleosis, it’s always possible that he could miss time again. That’s where Flacco comes into play.
Even though Flacco acknowledged that he probably won’t be ready for the start of the 2020 season due to offseason neck surgery, he is still the perfect backup for Darnold. While he may be in unchartered territory as a potential mentor and backup, he still brings with him an extensive list of accolades as a former starter, including a Super Bowl MVP.
If the time comes and Flacco needs to enter the starting lineup for Gang Green, he is perfectly capable of moving the chains and being a successful replacement under center. His record against the AFC East only confirms that.