If there's one starting quarterback in the NFL playoffs this year who wasn't expected to be there, it's definitely Joe Flacco. The Cleveland Browns signal-caller spent the first 11 weeks of the season sitting at home before getting a call from the Browns in November after Deshaun Watson went down with a season-ending injury.
The Browns are now getting ready to make just their second playoff appearance in 20 years, and if Flacco can lead them to a win, then he'll make NFL history. If the Browns beat the Texans on Saturday, that will be the eighth road playoff victory of Flacco's career, which would move him past Tom Brady for the No. 1 spot on the all-time list. Flacco and Brady are currently tied at the top of the list with seven road wins in the postseason.
When Flacco met with the media this week, he was actually asked how he felt about the possibility of breaking Brady's record.
"Anytime you get to be in the playoffs and win football games, there's some part of you that takes pride in that, no matter where it is," Flacco said. "This is what we go to work for every day, is to be in this position, and to play these types of games. I think we should all hold our head high."
Flacco was probably starting to think that he was never going to have a chance to break the record, and that's mostly because it's been nine years since his last postseason start. Before this year, Flacco's last playoff start came in a 35-31 divisional-round loss to Brady's Patriots during the 2014 season.
The Browns QB will be going 3,290 days between playoff starts, which is the second-longest gap in NFL history. The only QB who had a bigger gap was Doug Flutie, who went 4,382 days between postseason starts (Jan. 3, 1987 to Jan. 2, 1999).
The playoff loss to the Patriots in 2014 was the beginning of the end for Flacco in Baltimore. He lost his starting job in 2018 and then was traded to the Broncos in February 2019.
Flacco spent one season in Denver (2019) and then three seasons with the Jets (2020-22) before signing with the Browns. During that four-season span, Flacco started a total of 17 games while going just 3-14.
If the Browns win on Saturday, not only would Flacco set the record for most road playoff wins, but he'd also break Brett Favre's record for most wins in the wild-card round. Flacco and Favre both currently have five wild-card wins.
Since starting his first game with the Browns, Flacco has been on fire. The 38-year-old has thrown multiple touchdown passes in each of his five starts, and if he does that again this week, he'll tie Aaron Rodgers' record for the most consecutive postseason games with multiple touchdown passes. Flacco has thrown at least two touchdowns in eight straight playoff games in a streak that dates back to January 2012.
One thing Flacco has going for him is experience. The former Super Bowl MVP led the Ravens to a Super Bowl win in 2012, so he knows what it takes to win the big game. When he steps on the field this week, Flacco will become just the fifth Super Bowl MVP in NFL history to start a playoff game for another team, joining Joe Montana, Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning and Brady. That's a solid list to be on.
If Flacco can lead the Browns past the Texans and eventually to the Super Bowl, he'd almost certainly become a folk hero in Cleveland for a franchise that has zero Super Bowl appearances in team history.