The oft-criticized Joe Flacco has the Ravens one game from the Super Bowl. (AP)

Using some of the same terms he used to describe Denver quarterback Tim Tebow last week, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the best way to describe Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco is with a simple stat.

“They’ve won a lot of games, and I think that’s the big thing,” Belichick said on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “A quarterback has to do what his team needs him to do to win, and Joe has done that. I don’t know how improve much on 11-5 and 12-4 and they just keep doing it. He’s been a solid guy since his rookie year in terms of managing the game and using the clock and making good decisions and those types of things.

“He’s been able to throw the ball obviously to his backs, to his tight ends and down the field to whether it’s [Torrey] Smith or [Lee] Evans or [Anquan] Boldin or whoever it happens to be. I think he can make all the throws that you need a quarterback to make. He can run the team and manage it well. He can make checks and decisions that the offense needs to have a good flow and take advantage of defensive alignment. I think he’s certainly over four years improved in all those areas incrementally, but he did them at a pretty high level to begin with, and he continues to do that.”

Patriots defensive backs coach Josh Boyer praised Flacco, saying the Baltimore passing game “really starts with him.”

“Flacco is a very capable quarterback.  He is a guy that can throw the ball 65 yards down the field.  He can hit the intermediate routes.  He is very smart; he understands when to go to the check downs.  Even at times he takes some good sacks; he doesn’t put his team in bad situations,” Boyer said. “I would say it is a very good passing game.  They can hit them deep, intermediate or short.”