Joe Flacco is holding back the Ravens

Joe Flacco isn’t the only problem with the Baltimore Ravens, but he sure as hell isn’t helping the team.

Thanks to a touchdown with no time left on the clock Sunday, Flacco finished Week 7 with one touchdown and no interceptions. But that was gloss on a box score that featured just 186 yards through the air despite Flacco completing 27 of 39 passes.

Here are a few more stats if you’re not quite convinced:

But how in the world did this happen?

He’s still only 32 years old and it wasn’t that long ago — before it became a meme — that we were unironically debating whether or not the then-28-year-old quarterback who led the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory four and a half years ago was elite.

Just last year, he finished with more than 4,000 passing yards for the first time in his career.

He finished his Super Bowl-winning postseason run in January and Feburary 2013 with 11 touchdowns, no interceptions, and 285 yards per game. He got a six-year, $120.6 million contract a month later and — even if he never quite played up to that number — he was never terrible.

At least not until now.

And no, it’s not all on him. The offensive line was stripped of Kelechi Osemele and Rick Wagner in free agency in back-to-back years, and the team’s already unimpressive wide receiver corps is dealing with injuries to Jeremy Maclin, Mike Wallace, and Breshad Perriman.

The Ravens have traditionally won with stout defense, but Baltimore is dead last in rushing yards allowed and haven’t had the same turnover luck they had in the first two weeks when they forced 10 against the Bengals and Browns.

It’s a tall ask for Flacco to look great with this group. But with a cap hit of $24.55 million in 2017 and at least $24 million in the next four years, it’s not too much to ask for him to not be terrible.

As it stands, Ravens’ offensive drives depend on running backs Javorius Allen, Alex Collins, and Terrance West to keep the team with manageable distances. For example, here’s a first quarter drive that turned into a second-and-11 situation after Collins lost a yard on first down:

I mean, come on, Joe.

But there really isn’t much that Baltimore can do about it. Cutting him before the 2018 season would leave the team with $28.75 million in dead cap space, so it’s actually cheaper to keep him on the roster for a while.

Maybe the Ravens could eventually trade him to a team that convinces itself it can get a better version of Flacco. But his contract makes that difficult too.

The best Baltimore can realistically do is surround him with more talent and hope Flacco returns to form. Because right now, he’s a problem for the Ravens.