Joe Flacco Concussion After Kiko Alonso Late Hit Sparks Ravens, Dolphins Fight | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

The team later announced he was ruled out of the game with a concussion. Per the CBS broadcast, Flacco also needed stitches for a cut on his ear sustained during the play.

The hit came while Flacco was sliding at the end of a scramble, leading to a 15-yard penalty against the Dolphins for unnecessary roughness.

Many thought there should be more discipline:

Jason La Canfora @JasonLaCanfora

That should be a suspension. QB giving himself up. Late and violent and blatantly illegal shot to the head

Doug Moore @DMooreNFL

Alonso deserves to be ejected for that. Flacco was already sliding. That's a dirty hit.

Doug Farrar @BR_DougFarrar

How is Alonso still in this game?

Several Ravens players came to the defense of their quarterback in what became a scuffle, including center Ryan Jensen and Dolphins tackle Ndamukong Suh. There were no ejections, though further punishment could be coming from the league office.

Flacco missed the start of training camp and the entire preseason due to a back injury, but he had been relatively healthy throughout his career before that. In his first nine years, the quarterback completed a full 16-game season in eight of them.

His only missed time came in 2015 when a knee injury cut short his season after 10 games.

When healthy, Flacco has had great moments, most notably winning Super Bowl MVP after the 2012 season. He also set a new career high with 4,317 passing yards last year. On the other hand, he has struggled with consistency and has only finished two years with a quarterback rating above 90.

His 70 quarterback rating entering the day would be a career low for a season.

Still, the Ravens are better with the 32-year-old in the lineup due to the lack of depth behind him.

Ryan Mallett, who has just a 66.1 career quarterback rating, is the next option for Baltimore under center. If Flacco's injury keeps him out for an extended period, the organization might have to look for outside help.