Cory's Corner: Give me Hundley over Flacco
Ever since Brett Hundley heard his name announced with the rest of the Packers starters on Oct. 22, the staccato applause was accompanied by a healthy dose of criticism.
Ever since Brett Hundley heard his name announced with the rest of the Packers starters on Oct. 22, the staccato applause was accompanied by a healthy dose of criticism.
His passer rating in his first NFL start was a pedestrian 39.9. Hundley has rebounded and his passer rating for his short three-game starting sample has been 79.92.
That number isn’t delicious but it could be worse. Joe Flacco was once considered an elite NFL quarterback and now he is still suffering through the effects of a bad back combined with a poor receiving corps. Not to mention a career that has been defined with shaky decision-making — as evidenced by his double-digit interception numbers in every year in his now 10th year in the league.
This year, Flacco has a career low rating of 72.2 and he’s currently ranked 33rd among all quarterbacks with a ghastly 5.33 yards per attempt.
Flacco has a Super Bowl ring. He was also the MVP of said Super Bowl by going 22 of 33 for 287 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-31 win over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
But I’d still take Hundley. Flacco is the slow-pitch softball player that hits a home run or strikes out and most of the time this season he has whiffed.
It appears that Hundley is starting to get it. He had a 110.8 rating in the fourth quarter of last week’s Bears win. Hundley has a formed a trust with Davante Adams while barely tapping the organization’s top receiving resource in Jordy Nelson.
With Baltimore being a blitzing, pressuring defense, Hundley will be forced to improvise and throw on the run. Those are two hallmarks of Aaron Rodgers and last week, Hundley proved he could do that with an incredible 19-yard touchdown pass to Adams that was easily his best pass as a pro.
Hundley’s confidence is soaring right now. He may only have one healthy running back in his backfield, but he is starting to look like a starting quarterback. Yep, I said it. I would like to see his performance in Chicago four more times, but after what we saw out of him in the fourth quarter to snap a three-game losing streak, that doesn’t seem far fetched at all.
On the other hand, Flacco has been a plodding dinosaur. He runs like he is stuck in mud and has trouble hitting the small windows that separate NFL quarterbacks — let alone quarterbacks that are making $24.5 million this year. Flacco actually reminds me of a less mobile Kirk Cousins.
So criticize if you must. Just remember, that it could be a lot worse.
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on "Clubhouse Live" and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
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Comments (18)
Packer_Fan
November 18, 2017 at 07:03 am
Huntley still has a lot to learn. And Flacco just might have a good game. Nice that you think Huntley is better, but I believe you are reaching. We will know Sunday evening
Gianich
November 18, 2017 at 07:23 am
Dynamic Dom will have Flacco looking like a hall of fame by half-time
fastmoving
November 18, 2017 at 07:39 am
We only will know who won, but we wont know who is the better quarterback. At least not for sure.
Huntley still has a lot to learn and Flacco looks like he is done. He had only a couple of good years and was lucky he picked up that big contract.
He may have a couple of better games left, but I believe the Packers are the better team overall and will win.
TKWorldWide
November 18, 2017 at 01:58 pm
Who is Huntley?
fastmoving
November 18, 2017 at 02:52 pm
uhhh.......sorry, my bad
TKWorldWide
November 18, 2017 at 04:26 pm
Just busting chops, yo.
dobber
November 18, 2017 at 06:04 pm
Yo.
TarynsEyes
November 18, 2017 at 07:32 am
I don't believe in Hundley to the extent to date or what he may become later even if he gets the chance to play out the season, since playing out the season will be due to losing and missing the playoffs.
Flacco has never been an elite QB in my eyes and have said so before and after his SB victor but his experience and even his downward spiral of play to date still has him better than Hundley, since the very small flairs of hope many seem to derive from his play is still an exaggeration to an extreme depending on each one's view.
The Ravens have been dealing with injuries as much as the Packers and yet the play of Flacco is not accepted as reason but would be shouted from the rooftops as excuse for any bad play from the Packers.
I hope the Packers win Sunday as a loss will likely have any reasonable chance of Rodgers coming back to save the season, to whatever degree that may be, will be reflected in this game.
The defense will be the dictating factor to any Rodgers return and unfortunately that aspect of the game is still playing to to its standard.....inconsistent and confused.
Since'61
November 18, 2017 at 08:44 am
Flacco is not the player he once was and he was never an elite QB by any means. However, our defense allowed nearly 300 yards passing in our victory over the Bears with Trubisky at QB. It was Trubisky's best performance of his short career thus far.
As for Flacco our pass rush will be the key to stopping him. He is not very mobile so our defenders should know where to find him. On the other hand if he is allowed to get comfortable in the pocket he is still good enough to have a big game and for our defense to make him look like the return of Joe Namath.
Hundley needs solid play from the OL and a consistent ground game. If that happens he can hang in there. The key for Hundley will be to make good decisions with the football. The Ravens thrive on turnovers and Flacco is still good enough to take advantage of a short field.
Quick passes, screens and draw plays to slow down the Ravens pass rush and keep Hundley clean. Move the chains, keep Flacco off the field. Thanks, Since '61
Since'61
November 18, 2017 at 03:45 pm
Jonathan - I agree about the training wheels which is why the play of the Packers OL is critical. If we can run the ball effectively early in the game we might be able to have some success with play-action and/or option runs with Hundley depending on his hamstring.
I think playing with a lead will be critical for the Packers because if the Ravens know that we need to pass Hundley is in big trouble.
Thanks, Since '61
Qoojo
November 18, 2017 at 10:44 am
Unless the Ravens WRs are absolutely horrible, I expect the Ravens offensive woes will disappear against the packers D.
Supposedly, the ravens have the 28th ranked defense against the run, and one of the best pass Ds. I want to see if Mays provides an extra burst in the run game, but knowing how MM values pass pro over all else for backs unless forced to play RBs, I doubt Mays will see much or any time yet again.
I expect Hundley will throw at least one INT if the Ravens' pass D lives up to its ranking. I still do not see more than 21 points from the packers offense. Given the low points bar, it's all about a struggling ravens offense vs the bad packers D, it's a coin flip.
gary g
November 18, 2017 at 08:57 am
Capers should get an award as the best QB coach in the league. Every opposing QB we play has their rating elevated after playing us. What a shame Capers is still around. Makes me wish we had a crazy owner like Jerry Jones for just one day.
Handsback
November 18, 2017 at 09:08 am
Last week Green Bay was in a must win situation. This week is no different except this week will determine if the Packers are a play-off team. Beating their rivals on an away game was good. Now they have to see if they are good enough to beat a talented team coming off a bye week and establish themselves as a possible contender.
You can't lose a game like this and say you'll make it up later.
Last week was a confidence builder...this week will determine if they will be a contender or pretender. All of us hope for the former verses the later.
They have enough talent to keep winning if they play hard and smart. This year that hasn't always been the case.
dobber
November 18, 2017 at 01:43 pm
"Last week was a confidence builder...this week will determine if they will be a contender or pretender."
I think we all know that without #12, they're likely to be no more than a tease. They need to improve so much on both sides of the ball to elevate to "contender" without ARod that I think your "building confidence" on a weekly basis is what we should be hoping on.
pooch
November 18, 2017 at 10:49 pm
That is really a dumb article
BPEARSON21
November 19, 2017 at 04:17 pm
..... ....... ..... can’t wait to read why you like Hundley over Big Ben next week.... yikes. Lolol
Point-Packer
November 19, 2017 at 07:57 pm
Uh. Yeah. No.
Fire_Gute
November 19, 2017 at 09:25 pm
This article was absurd before the game and is absolutely insane now. Joe Flacco definitely isn't elite. And probably never was. But Hundley isn't in the top 75 qbs in the NFL right now. He had one good quarter against a terrible bears team. The rest of his pedestrian stats have come during garbage time of a few ass kickings. Flacco might have gotten most of his fame, reputation, and money for one playoff /superbowl, but he had more good games in that run then Hundley ever will.