Joe Flacco knows how to win on road in playoffs — he can become NFL's all-time leader — shares experience with teammates

BEREA — Joe Flacco probably won't play as long as Tom Brady did. Flacco turns 39 next Tuesday and Brady retired when he was 45.Flacco won't catch Brady in Super Bowl rings. Brady has a record seven to Flacco's one.But Flacco can surpass the G.O.A.T. in a meaningful stat Saturday afternoon when the Browns play in Houston for the wild card round. Flacco could break a tie with Brady and become the first quarterback to win eight road playoff games.Why was Joe Flacco available? He has theories … and can handle breakfast for five kids"It just goes back to doing the basics the right way, not overthinking what it means to go on the road, just going and playing a good football game," Flacco said Tuesday. "And when the dust settles, you pick your head up and see where you are."Flacco is 7-5 on the road in the postseason as a starter, all with the Ravens from 2008-14. Brady went 7-4 on the road with the Patriots and Buccaneers. The Super Bowl is played at a neutral site and isn't included.Flacco was Super Bowl MVP when the Ravens won the title after the 2012 season, and the run included a pair of road wins — over Peyton Manning in Denver and Brady in Foxborough, Massachusetts. He didn't differentiate when it came to the location of the success."Any time 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," he said.Analysis: Browns' preparation for Texans should start with these six playersCoach Kevin Stefanski held a team meeting Monday in which select veterans talked about what the playoffs are like and what's necessary to win. Flacco and safety Duron Harmon, who won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, were among the speakers."Everybody puts so much thought into what it takes to win these games and it's doing the simple things the best you can and just playing good fundamental football," Flacco said. "This is the time of the year where that stuff shows up."Obviously there's going to be plays made and guys are going to make a name for themselves, something's going to happen over the next five weeks that we're going to remember forever. But it's just about playing fundamental, physical football and playing a full 60 minutes. And no matter what's going on at the moment being able to keep the blinders on and keep moving forward."#Browns Joe Flacco on the value of playoff experience. pic.twitter.com/AoCOsPVt5X— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) January 9, 2024https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsLinebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah said it was probably the best team meeting he's ever been in with regards to an emphasis on "intensity" and "intentionality." He can already tell his teammates weren't satisfied by just making the playoffs."Just in the first two days of this week we see people coming in a little bit earlier, staying in a little bit later, more text messages, 'Hey, look, make sure you watch this,'" he said. "The emphasis this week is on the action."As the No. 5 seed in the AFC, the Browns are likely to be on the road for the duration of their playoff run. They would need to keep winning and get a couple of upsets by the Dolphins and/or the Steelers to host a game in the divisional round or the conference championship.Dustin Hopkins 'unlikely' to play vs. Texans in playoff openerThe road hasn't always been kind to the Browns (11-6) this season. They went 3-5 away from the lakefront, including a loss in the meaningless finale in Cincinnati, but can draw from the 36-22 victory in Houston on Dec. 24.They were 2-4 and the No. 1-ranked defense had given up 345.3 yards and 30.7 points a game on the road until dominating the Texans. Houston, which was without quarterback C.J. Stroud, didn't score an offensive touchdown until the Browns had pulled their starters in the fourth quarter, and its best drive had ended at the Cleveland 46-yard line.The Browns, especially the defense, drew confidence from the performance."It's a good thing sometimes when you experience difficulties early in the season so that you have that experience to be able to say, 'Hey, I've overcame this already,'" Owusu-Koramoah said. "So for us to have those away games that we did overcome, it gives us a little bit of edge going into this postseason that right now it looks like it's going to be nothing but away games."We're focused on 1-0 and we're focused on making sure that we are still carrying that model of road warriors, and that's very important."#Browns LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah on upholding the No. 1 ranking of defense in playoffs. pic.twitter.com/D3qo9QmrkL— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) January 9, 2024https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsDespite the hiccups on the road, the Browns finished as the No. 1 defense in yards (270.2), passing yards (164.7), first downs allowed (253) and third-down conversions (29.1 percent)."We are coming into this with a clean slate," Owusu-Koramoah said of the playoffs. "We have the city on our back, we have the organization on our back and we have our name and what we've built as a team and as a defense. That's very important to uphold that standard, and that's what we are aiming to do going into the postseason."Of course, the statistics are important, we celebrate those, but the slate is 0-0 and we're looking to build something more from the postseason."The post Joe Flacco knows how to win on road in playoffs — he can become NFL's all-time leader — shares experience with teammates first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.