It was just 10 days ago that the Pittsburgh Steelers thought they were going to prepare to face the Jake Browning-led Cincinnati Bengals. The last thing they expected was an intra-division trade from the Cleveland Browns, one that shipped their old foe Joe Flacco to the Bengals. Right on queue, Flacco lit up the Steelers Thursday night for 342 passing yards and three touchdowns in the Bengals’ 33-31 win.
Ryan Clark would like a word with the Browns for doing this to his Steelers.
“Come on bruh. Can’t be serious. Joe Flacco dog, bruh. Cleveland ruins everything,” Clark said in a video posted on X. “Joe Flacco, Ja’Marr Chase going off. He done threw him 37 dang balls…And then Joe Flacco was running the ball? This man is ancient, bro. I ain’t like him since he came in the league and he was down Baltimore Ravens, he done been the Cleveland Browns, he done been the Cincinnati Bengal. He spent his whole adult life trying to terrorize the Pittsburgh Steelers. and right when we could take hold of the AFC North, be at the top of the dang AFC, he come and do this.
“The Browns ruin everything. They should have kept that man on the bench backing up Dillon Gabriel.”
Mike Tomlin went out of character during his weekly press conference Monday when he called out Browns GM Andrew Berry for making the trade. It’s an unwritten rule that trades within the division aren’t a good idea, and certainly not a quarterback the Browns made their Week 1 starter over a number of other options. Tomlin knew it was going to be a tough game from the second that trade was made, and he was right.
Flacco now has a winning record against Tomlin all-time, breaking the tie at 12-11. This doesn’t come as a big surprise given Flacco’s surgical two-TD performance off the bench to beat the Steelers for the Indianapolis Colts last season. He did a lot of the same stuff in that game as he did on Thursday night, getting rid of the ball quickly to neutralize what Pittsburgh does best with sacks and turnovers.
If the Bengals claw their way back into relevance and make the playoffs, the Browns will be to blame. Not that they care as they are headed for another top-five draft pick once again.
