I'd also guess many of the those completions were short throws. He reputedly had a good arm but I never saw any games where he didn't just throw alot of swing passes.
His yards per throw were pretty similar (between high 6 and low 7 (av. 6.8)) for most of his career with the exception of an injury year. If I remember correctly, that's a big if, he had a cannon, but accuracy dropped off significantly after 20 yards. So maybe the combo of his reduced accuracy long, and the game that Harbaugh wanted to play, made Flacco the under 10 man.
For reference:
- A Rodg's average is 7.8 so a yard more than JF. Most refer to his long ball ability.
-Pat Mahome's average is 8.4 (all of his seasons have been in the 8s).
-A lot of QBs in the low 7s.
-In 2020 24 QBs had more than 6.8 average (but that's just one season). JF's best season would move him up to 14 on the 2020 list.
-The league is definitely more pass heavy than when JF entered the league in the '80s...OK, 2008.