Chip Kelly: Joe Flacco is an ‘elite’ quarterback

One of the more tired, oft-mocked debates among NFL fans is whether or not Joe Flacco is an “elite” quarterback. Now we know where Chip Kelly stands on the subject.

Kelly’s Philadelphia Eagles and Flacco’s Baltimore Ravens are holding joint practices, which led Kelly to speak about Flacco prior to Thursday’s affairs.

“I think he’s one of the elite quarterbacks in this league,” Kelly said of Flacco via CSN Baltimore. “He’s got a big-time arm, he’s obviously big. You kind of roll up on Joe, he’s a big human being. He’s tough to bring down. He’s also just so poised. The game has slowed down for him. He’s such a good decision maker. He’s an unbelievably clutch player. You look at him in all the situations that he’s been in, he just always seems to have the poise, nothing seem to rattle him.

“I had the opportunity when I was at New Hampshire, we played against him when he was at Delaware. I knew that Joe was going to be among the top guys.”

It sounds like Kelly has a little bit of a crush on Flacco — one that goes back a long ways.

The thinking with Flacco has always been that he benefited from having a great defense in Baltimore and never had to do too much offensively for his team to win. After all, he’s never thrown for 4,000 yards in a season, and he’s only averaged around 21 touchdown passes per season since entering the league in 2008. Plus, how many “elite” quarterbacks throw for 19 touchdowns and 22 interceptions in a season as Flacco did in 2013?

Flacco is very much like Eli Manning. They are very capable quarterbacks who tend to excel in the postseason while sometimes looking average to ordinary during the regular season. Certainly Flacco was elite when he led the Ravens to the Super Bowl in 2012, throwing for 11 touchdowns and no picks during the playoff run, but overall, he falls short of the other top QBs in the league. Just don’t tell Kelly that (or Flacco himself for that matter).