Breaking Down Joe Flacco's Interceptions: First Interception vs. Denver Broncos

When the Baltimore Ravens' $120-million man tossed 22 interceptions last year, fans and analysts alike thought the sky was falling in Baltimore, or at least for Joe Flacco.

But a closer look at each interception tells a different tale. Many of the picks were preventable, and most were the result of uncharacteristic errors from Flacco.

Over a series of articles, I plan to look at several of Flacco's interceptions, detailing what went wrong. So without further ado, let's begin at the beginning...

Week 1 Baltimore Ravens vs Denver Broncos

2nd quarter Baltimore 7, Denver 0

3rd and 9

The play call:

The Ravens elect to keep Dallas Clark and Ray Rice back to protect, sending Torrey Smith on a post, Marlon Brown on a go route, and Brandon Stokley on a crossing route.

What went wrong:

Flacco had plenty of time in the pocket but really only had one option, Stokley. Denver showed a single-high-safety look pre-snap, but then rotated into Cover 2-Man on the play, keeping two safeties back in deep zones. That left Stokley isolated in single coverage. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to gain separation on the play.

The throw was slightly behind Stokley, but this interception was largely a result of two things: Stokley's inability to gain separation and a great defensive play from Chris Harris, who made the diving interception.

Chris Harris made a superior individual play to make the interception.

Ideally, Flacco would have rolled out of the pocket to throw the ball away, but that's not typically his style. With his aggressive mentality, the Ravens will need to live with plays like this from time to time, where he tries to force the ball to a covered receiver.