Flacco hit Ja’Marr Chase for an 8-yard touchdown with just under five minutes to go in the second quarter. The new kid on the Cincinnati block, Flacco put a halt to an eye-popping 30-drive first-half scoreless streak for the Bengals. Then he went ahead and led a second first-half scoring drive in a row, this time hitting Tee Higgins for a 29-yard score.
Having pulled the Bengals ahead with his arm, the spry wonder showed he still had something left in his legs. Flacco picked up 2 yards and a first down on fourth-and-1 with a sneak on a Cincinnati field goal drive for a 20-10 lead.
When Rodgers and Pittsburgh cut their deficit to 20-17, Flacco was back at it, this time finding former Denver Broncos teammate Noah Fant for a touchdown pass.
Flacco’s most mind-spinning play might well have come on one of the Bengals’ fruitless drives, one in which he ran for another first down, gaining 12 yards on a read-option play of all things. He hit a max speed of 15.59 mph, per Next Gen Stats, perhaps a foreshadowing that the 40-and-steady Flacco would win this race.
“That really was kind of more of a broken play,” Flacco said. “We just didn’t line up right. It wasn’t really a true read-option. But I’ve done a few of those, probably in my first three years, I did a few of those in certain situations. But it’s been awhile. It kind of just happened. It just happened. So I was like, alright, now how can I find somewhere to get down and not get taken out by one of these guys.”
The Fant TD was Flacco’s last of the night, but far from his final highlight.
After Rodgers rallied the Steelers back ahead on the strength of a 68-yard scoring toss to Pat Freiermuth, Flacco took over with 2:15 to go on the Bengals’ 30-yard line.
Rising once more to the moment, Flacco was perfect, 3 for 3 for 61 yards on the ensuing field-goal march. His last completion on a starry night was a 28-yarder to Higgins, who smartly slid to the ground, allowing Flacco to kneel three times before Evan McPherson booted the game-winner with seven seconds to go.
When a stunning 69-yard Rodgers Hail Mary try was batted down, Flacco held a win over Rodgers for the first time in his career, having gone winless in their first three matchups.
At the onset of the week, Tomlin made it known he couldn’t get his head around Browns general manager Andrew Berry dealing Flacco to a division rival.
Flacco’s career began in 2008 as a first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens. A Super Bowl MVP, he played 11 seasons in Charm City before moving on to the Broncos, the New York Jets twice, the Philadelphia Eagles (who he never played for), the Browns twice, the Indianapolis Colts and now the Bengals. Over the years, Tomlin has become very familiar with Flacco at his best.
“Mike’s being doing it so long and has those guys ready to play every single week for so long now,” Flacco said. “Nothing but respect for him and how he gets those guys ready. I love going against him. When I look back on it all, it’s the wins and the losses, I love all the games. Honestly, when I tell stories, a lot of the great stories come from some of the losses and the bad games you had. And with him and with them, there’s plenty of those.”
As pointed out by the Steelers head coach on Monday, Flacco was the Browns’ Week 1 starter. Through four games with Cleveland this season, he threw a grand total of two TDs. In two games with Cincinnati, he’s thrown five.
Since 1990, only 11 teams have ever made the playoffs beginning a season at 2-5. In that same span, 45 have made it having begun at 3-4, where the Bengals stand now.
“To go out there and have done it for the last six quarters, I think its gonna give us a lot of confidence,” said Flacco, who threw a pair of touchdowns in the second half of a Week 6 loss to the Green Bay Packers. “Hopefully we can carry that over and use it to our advantage.”
Flacco, much like he did in 2023 during his first run with the Browns, has given his new club hope. With Joe Burrow, who’s on the mend from toe surgery, surprisingly in attendance Thursday, Flacco has breathed new life and hope into the Bengals.
From one Joe to another, the Bengals are hoping they can go, believing Flacco can hold down the fort until one of the elite QBs in the game returns to play.
This Thursday night belonged to Flacco, though, who was traded to Cincinnati just 11 days before he defied the odds and Father Time to prevail in a true battle for the ages.
“One of the biggest things is that hopefully they’ll be willing to take on challenges,” said Flacco of what he hopes this 11-day stretch would teach his children. “I think it would’ve been easy to maybe say, nah, I don’t want to do that. Like, ‘You want me to play this week? You know, I don’t know.’ I think that’s one thing, is take on some challenges and you can’t worry about the outcome. I see myself as a competitor. I see myself as a football player. That’s what I do. The challenge? OK, fine, let me take it on. I see myself as a football player first. No hesitation. Let’s go do this. So, whatever you see yourself as, there’s a reason for that, and you shouldn’t hesitate when something may look a little scary or anything like that. You should jump in and do it.”
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