Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, suffered in Sunday’s win against the St. Louis Rams.

The news is huge for Flacco and the Ravens, he hasn’t missed a start since coming into the NFL in 2008, and with the 122 straight starts, he represents the third-longest active streak behind Eli Manning and Philip Rivers and the fifth-longest overall.

No one, including head coach John Harbaugh, knew the severity of the injury until after the game, Flacco said he felt “a lot of crunches” when he took that hit, but he didn’t know what he had injured.

Flacco carried on to guide team to victory

The injury occurred late in the fourth quarter of the game, Flacco stayed on the field, handing the ball off on two plays before spiking the ball to set up Justin Tucker for a 47-yard field goal that gave the Ravens a 17-14 victory.

When announcing the injury, the team did not specify which knee it was that was hurt, but on an incomplete pass during the final drive, James Hurst appeared to fall into his left knee.

More injury news for the Ravens

The Ravens, who are now 3-7 overall, were also dealt more bad news earlier in the game when Justin Forsett, the team’s Pro Bowl running back, had his arm broken on a hard tackle by Aaron Donald.

Forsett was stopped for a 5-yard loss on a first-and-10 from the St. Louis 41, Donald drove the running-back into the ground and had to be helped off the field.

What is next for the Baltimore Ravens?

Matt Schaub is the primary backup in Baltimore, and he last played with the Oakland Raiders last season, completing 5 of 10 passes for 57 yards. He played in 10 games with the Houston Texans in 2013, throwing for 2,310 yards, 10 touchdowns and 14 interceptions that season.

Going into the game with the Rams, the Ravens had already placed four other significant offensive player on injured reserve: wide receivers Steve Smith Sr. (Achilles) and Breshad Perriman (knee), tight end Dennis Pitta (hip) and center Jeremy Zuttah (hip).

The Ravens have a divisional clash in the AFC North with the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football next week and could possibly improve to 4-7 on the season, before another road game the following week against a rejuvenated Miami Dolphins.

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About the author
Andrew McDonnell
Sports writer based in the North-East of England, safe to say I have found my niche in sports writing and I strive to succeed with everything I do, including Vavel, both in the UK and USA. First official Writer of the week for the USA office too. Cover Manchester United, Watford, Cricket, MLS and NFL.