Baltimore Ravens: Matt Schaub takes over for Joe Flacco

The Baltimore Ravens will turn to Matt Schaub at quarterback for the remainder of the season now that Joe Flacco has a torn ACL and MCL.

John Harbaugh has not had a quarterback start a game for him other than Joe Flacco. In their entire tenure in Baltimore, the duo has taken the field 137 times without interruption and its lead to 85 wins and a Super Bowl.

Now that Flacco is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and MCL, Harbaugh will look to his backup quarterback for the first time in his coaching career. Here is an excerpt from a piece I wrote during training camp:

"“It’s a fantastic achievement for the Ravens franchise quarterback, but the reality is this is football. At some point Flacco is going to go down with an injury and John Harbaugh will be forced to go with his backup plan. For this season, if Flacco should be forced to miss time for any reason, the Ravens will turn to veteran Matt Schaub.”"

That time has come.

Matt Schaub was brought in as the first veteran backup at quarterback since the Ravens signed Marc Bulger in 2010. Tyrod Taylor was the backup the last four years, but is now the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. The preseason was not pretty for Schaub as there was a six-day period in which he threw a total of nine interceptions during minicamp practices.

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Schaub will get his first start since Week 10 of the 2013 season in which he was benched by the Houston Texans. He finished that season with 2,310 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Last season, he was the backup to rookie Derek Carr and threw two interceptions in just 10 passes. Want some more sickening statistics? He’s thrown 16 INTs and has fumbled three times in his last 368 pass attempts. Not exactly the most promising numbers for the man who will be at the helm for the next six games.

That didn’t stop Harbaugh from defending his new starting quarterback after the game.

“We’ll be fine as a football team. We’ll bounce back, that’s what you do. Matt Schaub can play quarterback, and he’s going to come in, [and] he’s going to play very well. Everybody out there can talk about how he can’t – those who want to consider themselves amateur evaluators – they can say what they want. It’s OK, we’ll rally behind Matt.”

Now the question is, who will backup the backup? Baltimore does not even have a quarterback on its practice squad so they will have to find someone quickly. The most logical choice is Bryn Renner, who was with the team during training camp and the preseason. There were some that were clamoring (myself included) for Renner to be the backup option over Schaub. It’s a decision the coaches and front office will have to make in the upcoming days.

The injury to Flacco came on the same day that running back Justin Forsett broke his right arm and is also done for the season. The injuries this weekend leave Baltimore without their starting quarterback, running back, center, wide receivers and top pass rusher. That’s the kind of season it’s been for the Ravens this season. It’s been nothing but turmoil for this group.

The always upbeat Harbaugh is calling for his team to come together in a time of unknown for him and the franchise.

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“I’ve never had that experience, and that has been a great blessing – to have Joe every single game, for eight-and-a-half years here. He’s an iron man. I told the team he’s an absolute iron man, warrior-type of a player out there, and now it’s his turn. We have to step up and rally up for him, just like he has done so many times for so many guys.”

No matter what the coaches might tell us, the next six games are going to be tough to watch without Flacco.

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