gWith Joe Flacco getting the QB nod from HC Robert Saleh in the Jets' season opener against Baltimore on Sunday, any number of numbers and firsts come to mind that Ageless Joe will be pursuing, both against the Ravens, in probably his two starts after that, and for the rest of the season.
For starters in this first Inside The Numbers of the new season, there's opening day. Flacco was the Ravens' opening-day starter for his 11 seasons in Crabcake City, from 2008-18, plus for the Broncos in 2019. His records in such games are sterling and he can add to them Sunday:
■ He's 8-4 as a starter with an 85.0 passer rating in season openers.
■ He's 6-1 as a starter in season openers at his home stadium (all for the Ravens) with 13 TD passes, 2 interceptions and a 96.3 rating in those games.
■ And in home openers, his record is 9-3 and he's completed 65% of his passes for 22 TDs, 5 INTs and a 96.6 rating.
As for career regular-season hurdles, Flacco's got a few goals ahead. With two wins, he'll have 100 RS wins as an NFL starter. And reachable with a mere 17 completions, he'd have 3,788 for his career and move into 16th place on the NFL's all-time list past ... Vinny Testaverde.
(Trivia detour: The Jets' two wins all-time over the Ravens came in the teams' first meeting, when Glenn Foley, in relief of Neil O'Donnell, topped Testaverde and Baltimore 19-16 in overtime at old Giants Stadium in 1997, and in their most recent home game vs. the Ravens, when Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB for the Jets defeated Flacco and the Purple Birds 24-16 at MetLife in 2016.)
Most important, to Joe and the Jets, is to get his first win as a Green & White starter and their first win of the '22 season. He went 0-5 as a Jet in 2020-21, although his stat line (9 TD passes, 3 INTs, 88.3 rating) would suggest a more robust W-L mark.
Finally, let's turn to age. Flacco will turn 38 in January but that doesn't seem to bother him. As he told Eric Allen and Bart Scott on this week's Official Jets Podcast, "It's my fifth year of being 27 years old. That's how I view myself." And all he has to do to break some franchise age barriers is to take the Jets' first offensive snap from C Connor McGovern.
When Duane Brown (shoulder) returns to action, we'll have more to reveal on two graybeards in the same Jets lineup. For now, we'll just report that Flacco is in position to become one of the four oldest QBs to start on opening day in franchise history.
One More Flacco Note
Flacco, when he takes the Jets' opening offensive snap from Connor McGovern, will become one of the four oldest QBs to start on opening day in franchise history. Most recent is Josh McCown, who started the 2017 season at Buffalo at 38 years of age. Going back farther, next is Brett Favre, who began the 2008 season @ MIA at 38. Last is Vinny Testaverde, who started the Jets' '01 opener vs. Indianapolis at 37 ... and the '02 opener at Buffalo at 38 ... and the '03 opener at Washington at 39. (Vinny T even got four Jets starts in '05 but not the opener at KC. The only Jets starters age 37 or older who started and won in a Jets opener were Testaverde by 37-31 in OT @ BUF in '02 and Favre by 20-14 @ MIA in '08.
Hall of a Streak
Breece Hall, the Jets' second-round rookie out of Iowa State, has one of those neat hybrid type trivia situations going. It's not really a "thing" but it's still a neat streak that would be even neater if he could continue it from college into the pros.
Hall wound up his ISU career with two full seasons, 24 games, in which he rushed for at least one touchdown in each game. That 24-game rush-TD streak broke the NCAA record that he shared for a week with Bill Burnett, who ran for a TD in 23 straight games for Arkansas from 1968-70.
Hall's 24th game was the Cyclones' Big 12 win over TCU last December. He opted to sit out their Cheez-It Bowl loss to Clemson to prepare for the NFL Combine and the draft. As a result, he comes to the Jets with the meter still running on his personal streak.
Can Breece breeze to a TD or more in his first game as a Jet to make it 25 straight games in which he's rushed for a TD? Assuming he plays vs. Baltimore, we'll find out Sunday.
In coming ITNs, we'll give you the numbers, records, PBs and achievements of your favorite Jets, current and past. Next week, the Jets defense will get its due. In particular, there's at least one new milestone for MLB and defensive captain C.J. Mosley to tackle.
