We didn't think the Baltimore Ravens' season could involve more bad luck, but it got a whole lot worse on Sunday.
Joe Flacco will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL and possibly a torn MCL, coach John Harbaugh announced after the Ravens' win over the Rams. The team also lost Pro Bowl running back Justin Forsett for the rest of the season due to a broken arm.
"It's just the nature of the game, man," Flacco said after the game. "Stuff like this happens. So you've just got to stand tall and get through it."
The injuries put a damper on the Ravens' last-second victory, which raised their record to 3-7. It should also highlight Flacco's toughness. Harbaugh revealed that Flacco suffered the injury on the Ravens' last offensive series. He finished out the series despite the injury, with the Ravens winning the game on a Justin Tucker field goal.
The injury will stop Flacco's streak of consecutive starts to open his career at 122 regular season games. (He's also started 15 playoff games.) If nothing else, the Ravens could take solace that the timing of the injury gives Flacco more time to rehabilitate for 2016. The injury also came in a rare lost season for the Ravens. Forsett, Flacco, No. 1 receiver Steve Smith, defensive captain Terrell Suggs, speedy first-round draft pick Breshad Perriman and center Jeremy Zuttah have all been injured for the Ravens.
The Ravens will turn to Matt Schaub for the rest of the year, and their games could be tough to watch. The team's No. 1 receiver is Kamar Aiken and their new starting running back figures to be Buck Allen. The Ravens could be in the mix for the top overall position in next year's draft.
This qualifies as a huge downer of a year for Flacco, but we don't think he was playing poorly at all. His numbers were mediocre because of the talent around him. Few quarterbacks were asked to carry their teams as much as Flacco this year, and for the most part he was the same guy he's always been. That was good enough to almost win in Foxborough last January, and the Ravens should be back in the playoff mix again some year soon. That blown lead to the Patriots, however, feels like a long time ago.
