Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin wasn’t happy coming into the Thursday Night Football matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals after the Bengals landed veteran quarterback Joe Flacco in a shocking trade with the Cleveland Browns last week.
Tomlin ripped Browns’ GM Andrew Berry, and rightfully so. That move ended up helping the Bengals out in a major way, as on Thursday night against a familiar foe in the Steelers, Flacco carved up Pittsburgh’s defense to the tune of 342 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-31 win.
In the past, Flacco has had a great deal of success getting the ball out quickly and picking apart the Steelers’ zone coverage. He did that on Thursday night, giving the Steelers fits, all while helping negate the Steelers’ pass rush.
For Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who had just half a sack in the loss, what Flacco did Thursday night in primetime is exactly what the Steelers saw last season from him in Indianapolis, when he came on in relief for the injured Anthony Richardson.
“Yeah, we saw it last year in Indy. It’s something that we knew he was capable of,” Watt said of Flacco’s performance, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTue page. “Obviously when you play that long, you’re able to get through your reads quick, and we need to be able to stop him.”
The Steelers didn’t have an answer for Flacco on the night. He targeted stars Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and carved up the Steelers. Getting the ball out quickly helped Flacco negate any sort of pass rush the Steelers could try and generate on the night.
According to Next Gen Stats, Flacco was in a clean pocket throughout the night. He completed 28-of-37 passes for 336 yards and the three touchdowns from a clean pocket, while the Steelers had their lowest pressure rate of the season at just 24.5%. Coming into the matchup, the Steelers had recorded 17 sacks in the previous three games.
There was no such pressure on Thursday, and that was frustrating for Watt.
“I think they were getting the ball out pretty quick all night,” Watt added. “Good amount of max protection, but even then, it seemed like the ball was coming out pretty quickly.”
It was. The Steelers just did that on Sunday to negate Cleveland’s Myles Garrett, but they got a taste of their own medicine on a short week. And it came from a familiar face, too.
Sometimes life in the NFL is like that. The Steelers found that out in frustrating fashion once again Thursday night.
