Throughout his 16-year NFL career, quarterback Joe Flacco has gone against the Pittsburgh Steelers quite a few times and had plenty of battles with the Black and Gold.
On Sunday, Flacco got another shot at them, this time as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. Coming off the bench in the first quarter for the injured Anthony Richardson, Flacco led the Colts to a 27-24 win, throwing for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
After the win, Flacco laughed when asked about playing the Steelers again, highlighting head coach Mike Tomlin still being on the opposing sideline, and even shouting out former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Pat McAfee’s suite for the game.
“It’s crazy, man. How many times I’ve played against them at this point. Big Ben was in the house today, too. I saw him pregame and, I mean, Mike’s over there,” Flacco said of matching up against the Steelers on Sunday, according to video via Colts.com. “He will be over there forever. So, definitely a little bit of that familiarity seeing those jerseys across the way.”
Flacco has played against the Steelers 21 times and has gone 10-11 in those games, throwing for 4,860 yards and 25 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions. He’s had some great moments against the Steelers, and some low moments, including the 2008 AFC Championship Game where Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu picked him off late in the fourth quarter and returned it for an interception, punching the Steelers’ ticket to the Super Bowl.
On Sunday, though, Flacco got back at the Steelers by coming off the bench cold for the Colts and throwing for two touchdowns, helping take down an old nemesis.
It was rather fitting that a 39-year-old Flacco came off the bench and carved up the Steelers late, which put the final nail in the coffin on a rather poor defensive showing from the Steelers. They had been dominant on that side of the football the first three weeks of the season but had no answers early for starting quarterback Anthony Richardson and none late for a familiar face in Flacco.
