NFL
What NFL playoff record can Browns QB Joe Flacco break if Cleveland wins against the Texans?
Former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Flacco hasn’t played postseason for almost a decade but could beat Tom Brady’s record in Houston.
The NFL 2023-24 playoffs get underway on Saturday (11 January) with the Houston Texans hosting the Cleveland Browns at NRG Stadium. The postseason action is, of course, where all the magic happens and we could see Browns quarterback Joe Flacco pull off an immediate trick in the very first game.
The 38-year-old has become something of a stranger to the playoffs, having not featured in them for nine years, his last outing coming in former team Baltimore Ravens’ loss to the New England Patriots in 2015. In that time, the 2012 Super Bowl winner has played for three different NFL teams (Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles) without throwing a single postseason ball.
Flacco one win away from moving ahead of Tom Brady
But, just in case you’d forgotten, the New Jersey native was pretty handy during the business end of the season back in the day. Despite a near decade-long playoff absence, Flacco will break a record he jointly holds with seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, no less, should the Browns come out on top in the Wild Card match in Houston.
That would move Flacco onto eight road playoff victories in his career, which would be one more than Brady achieved with the Patriots and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making him the best road NFL playoff quarterback of all time.
What is Flacco’s road playoff record?
The veteran has a 7-5 road playoff record, with all seven of his wins coming during his 10-year spell with the Ravens (2008 to 2018). If it seems bizarre Flacco could be on the verge of such a record after disappearing from he postseason scene for so long, then it can be partly explained by the fact he almost exclusively played on the road in the playoffs for his former team, featuring in only two home matches.
With Cleveland going 4-1 since Flacco came into the team in December (he didn’t play in the loss to Cincinnati Bengals last weekend) and having defeated Houston 36-22 on Christmas Eve, they will be confident of progressing to the Divisional playoffs and helping their quarterback write his name into the record books.