Browns quarterback makes history with multiple pick-sixes in Texans loss

| January 14, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Joe Flacco had performed several feats of wizardry during his brief tenure with the Browns.

But he selected the worst possible time to regress on Saturday, in the team’s first playoff game against the Texans.

The Browns went into the locker room at halftime behind at 24-14, and forced a three-and-out to keep the game within one score. But, on back-to-back drives, Flacco threw pick-sixes, thus killing Cleveland’s prospects of overcoming the Texans in the wild-card round.The Browns were defeated 45-14.

It’s been a spectacular five-game regular-season run for Flacco, who was acquired out of free agency by Cleveland on Nov. 20 after Deshaun Watson’s season-ending injury and uneven quarterback play from P.J. Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

Flacco finished 4-1 in five starts for the Browns, leading them to a wild-card berth and allowing him to rest the final week of the regular season. However, it looks that his spectacular return with the Browns came to a stop with his second inaccurate pass of the game, one of many troubling trends he displayed throughout the 2023 season.

Joe Flacco interceptions

The Texans had gone the entire season without a pick-six. However, Steven Nelson chose an excellent time to give Houston its first goal.

When Flacco was sacked by Derek Barnett, he attempted to either throw the ball away or get a dump-off pass to tight end David Njoku. It didn’t land where it was supposed to, regardless of the objective.

Nelson, on the other hand, camped out under the ball for the easy catch. He then had a large group of Texans block for him on his way to the end zone, where he scored an 82-yard touchdown.

The second pick-six came as a result of another blunder by Flacco. He attempted a short pass to tight end Harrison Bryant, but seemed to miss defender Christian Harris, who was hiding just behind Bryant. Harris leaped the route swiftly and intercepted the throw, easily returning it for the 36-yard pick-six.

Joe Flacco stats

For the Browns, Flacco was mainly the hero. In each game, he threw at least two touchdowns. Except for his first start, which was also his lone loss as the Browns’ starter, he had over 300 passing yards in all but one of those games.

But it didn’t take much digging into the statistics to spot a serious issue. Flacco had at least one interception in each game, including three against the Bears. He also had six picks in his final three games and concluded the regular season with eight picks in only five games, a 17-game average of 27.2.

Flacco has been plagued by interceptions throughout his NFL career. He was the starting quarterback in Baltimore for ten seasons. He threw at least ten interceptions in each of them. He threw six passes in his final season, 2018, before being benched in favor of Lamar Jackson after starting nine games.

Year Age Team G Cmp-Att (Cmp%) Pass Yds Pass TDs INTs
2008 23 BAL 16 257-428 (60%) 2,971 14 12
2009 24 BAL 16 315-499 (63.1%) 3,613 21 12
2010 25 BAL 16 306-489 (62.6%) 3,622 25 10
2011 26 BAL 16 312-542 (57.6%) 3,610 20 12
2012 27 BAL 16 317-531 (59.7%) 3,817 22 10
2013 28 BAL 16 362-614 (59%) 3,912 19 22
2014 29 BAL 16 344-554 (62.1%) 3,986 27 12
2015 30 BAL 10 266-413 (64.4%) 2,791 14 12
2016 31 BAL 16 436-672 (64.9%) 4,317 20 15
2017 32 BAL 16 352-549 (64.1%) 3,141 18 13
2018 33 BAL 9 232-379 (61.2%) 2,465 12 6
2019 34 DEN 8 171-262 (65.3%) 1,822 6 5
2020 35 NYJ 5 74-134 (55.2%) 864 6 3
2021 36 NYJ 2 27-42 (64.3%) 338 3 0
2022 37 NYJ 5 110-191 (57.6%) 1,051 5 3
2023 38 CLE 5 123-204 (60.3%) 1,616 13 8
Career Career — 188 4,004-6,503 (61.6%) 43,936 245 155
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