Can Joe Flacco rain on the Steelers’ parade?
The Steelers can take commanding control of the AFC North, but old nemesis Joe Flacco stands in their way tonight. Wearing his third different divisional jersey, he is starting for the Bengals now. After realizing that Jake Browning isn’t good, Cincinnati made an emergency trade for him last week.
And while Flacco isn’t really good, either, he knows the Steelers better than anybody. He managed to beat them after coming off the bench last year with the Colts, and now he has more talent around him. The Colts are a better team, but the Bengals have more weapons.
As the Steelers can attest, the one thing Joe Flacco has always had is an arm. His “F-it, DPI is down there somewhere” style got him far at one point. And when you’re throwing to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, that might get you a home divisional win on a short week.
Going into tonight’s game, the 4-1 Steelers have the only non-losing record in the division. Everyone else has at least four losses, so Pittsburgh certainly has a comfortable early lead. But dropping a game to Flacco and the Bengals would really put a cramp in the Steelers’ style. And that’s especially true given the trajectory of the schedule with tougher opponents to come.
Frankly, nobody in the NFL seems to worry about Joe Flacco more than the Steelers and HC Mike Tomlin. But it’s not like they haven’t raw-dogged him in the past. Over his last six games against Pittsburgh, he is 2-4. And he is 6-5 against the Steelers for his career at home, so it’s not like that’s been a huge advantage.
Over his career against the Steelers, Joe Flacco is 470-of-770 for 5,028 yards with 27 touchdowns to 12 interceptions over 22 games. That’s neither great nor poor, as one would expect. There are certainly times that he’s played very well against them. But he’s never been some unstoppable juggernaut, and there’s a reason the Browns traded him. It’s up to the Steelers to make him look like a midseason quarterback trade tonight.
After another disappointing season and months of retooling, the Steelers are set to try it all again in 2025. Though they limped into the playoffs, they once again embarrassed themselves therein.
Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is the quarterback question. They settled in on Aaron Rodgers, but we still have a lot to learn about him. The 2025 NFL Draft class could play a big role, but veteran additions like Jalen Ramsey will be paramount.
Now we are in the regular season. From Rodgers to George Pickens to Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ramsey, we’ve seen the Steelers make some big changes. Now it’s about evaluating the roster in place and figuring out how it all works out.
