It was only recently that linebacker Terrell Suggs wondered whether the Ravens should stick with rookie Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback.
After witnessing the Ravens' 29-10 pummeling of the Oakland Raiders yesterday, Suggs and the sellout crowd at M&T Bank Stadium had another question on their mind.
What can't Flacco do?
In what likely will go down as a unique performance by a Ravens quarterback, Flacco showed off his arm (throwing for a 70-yard touchdown), his hands (catching a 43-yard pass) and his legs (running for a 12-yard touchdown).
"Is that a record?" Ravens coach John Harbaugh playfully asked after a second straight victory improved the Ravens to 4-3.
Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron has had one other quarterback hit the unusual triple crown (Antwaan Randle El at Indiana University) but never before in his nine seasons in the NFL.
"Joe's a good athlete," Cameron said of his 6-foot-6, 230-pound quarterback. "He's a big man who moves around like a guy who is 6-3. I think those guys are hard to find."
It's hard to figure out where the Ravens will line up Flacco these days.
In the new "Suggs Package" - Harbaugh's name for the offensive wrinkle that jokingly refers to Suggs' assertion that Troy Smith should be the starting quarterback - Flacco and Smith are on the field at the same time.
Although they used the formation a handful of times, it wasn't until the third quarter that Flacco got his big chance and delivered the highlight of the game.
After taking the shotgun snap, Flacco flipped the ball to Smith and rolled out left, where he got behind Raiders linebacker Ricky Brown. He then extended to make the third catch by a Ravens quarterback (but the only one for positive yardage).
"I trusted myself that if they threw it, I would catch it," said Flacco, who hadn't caught a pass since he was a senior in high school. "I was hoping I would catch it. I didn't want to make a fool of myself."
His only regret was failing to reach the end zone.
Because he leaned forward to reach for the ball, he lost his balance and eventually fell at the Oakland 6-yard line. The Ravens settled for a 30-yard field goal by Matt Stover to go ahead 22-3.
"I tried to stumble as long as I could," Flacco said. "My feet were just getting drug by the rest of my body. They were trying to keep up, but they couldn't."
While his legs failed him on that play, his arm didn't in the second quarter.
