Joe Flacco 'know what it takes' to win road playoff games, adding confidence to Browns

HOUSTON — The quarterback is the most important position in football. It's also arguably the most important position in the locker room.

More than even that, it may be the position where playoff experience is most valuable.

Duron Harmon saw that first hand during the first seven years of his NFL career in Tom Brady while playing for the New England Patriots. Now, the veteran safety can see it now as he sits in the Browns locker room and watches Joe Flacco once again prepare for a playoff start.

"I think it's great to have, like you said, because at the end of the day, the quarterback, he touches the ball every play and obviously we know the moment won't be too big for Joe," Harmon said this week. "I mean, he's played in a lot of playoff games. He's won Super Bowl, Super Bowl MVP, he’s played at the highest level that he could during the Super Bowl run, so obviously he knows what it takes."

Harmon can testify to having seen that as well, even if he may have had a hand in it ending poorly for Flacco. The last time the quarterback started a playoff game — Jan. 10, 2015, in the AFC Divisional round — Harmon had one of the two interceptions the then-Baltimore Raven threw in a 35-31 Patriots win.

That was playoff start No. 15 for Flacco. Start No. 16 comes Saturday afternoon when the Browns (11-6) play at the Houston Texans (10-7) in an AFC wild card game.

Flacco was 10-5 in the playoffs with the Ravens, including winning Super Bowl 47 — of which he was the Most Valuable Player — in February, 2013. Within that is a 7-5 record in road playoff games, the win total tying Brady for most in NFL history.

"I think anytime you get to be in the playoffs and win football games, there's some part of you that takes pride in that no matter where it is," Flacco said this week. "This is what we go to work for every day is to be in this position and to play these types of games. So I think we should all hold our head high. We earned the right to be playing this Saturday and you should gain something from that. But like I said, once you lace him up and once you're actually out on the field, none of that matters."

Flacco's career has been defined by that Super Bowl run following the 2012 season. While it started with a home win over the Indianapolis Colts, the most memorable moments of the run, outside of the Super Bowl itself, were road wins at the Denver Broncos and New England.

That Ravens teams finished the season 10-6 and won the AFC North, but ended the regular season losing four of five, including the regular-season finale in Cincinnati in which they rested a large percentage of their regulars. The Browns, on the other hand, didn't win the North, but ended the regular season having won four of five, with the only loss coming in the finale at Cincinnati in which they rested a large percentage of their regulars.

“We had been through a lot together, not that everybody was the same," Flacco said of the Ravens' championship team. "But there was a lot of key guys on that team that had been around for a while and been through a handful of playoff games, so we were battle tested in that respect. I just think every team’s got its own little unique personality and that one had it. And like I said, there was a lot of things that went into why we were able to have the confidence to get through it.”

That is, in many ways, a mirror description of the Browns team for whom Flacco has emerged as the quarterback. In fact, he may be the personification of the team.

Flacco was the fourth starting quarterback for the Browns due to injuries. Injuries have defined their playoff run, with more than a dozen players on injured reserve, including nine starters.

Yet, they find themselves making the team's third playoff appearance since it returned to the league in 1999. That kind of perseverance is something Flacco feels is necessary to win games in the postseason, especially on the road.

"It always helps to go through tough times and truly be tested," Flacco said, "whether that’s injuries or close games, finding your identity, things like that. They all helped.”

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns QB Joe Flacco 'know what it takes' to win road playoff games