Nobody fears former Ravens QB Joe Flacco the way the Steelers fear Joe Flacco, including former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. Even though Flacco is now a journeyman backup who just fell into a starting job, they still respect his game. And perhaps they respect his past even more so, Flacco having led Baltimore to a Super Bowl.
But there’s a reason the Browns traded Flacco to the Bengals, even if it shocked Steelers HC Mike Tomlin. It stands to reason that Cleveland didn’t think Cincinnati would be much better with him than with Jake Browning. Ben Roethlisberger disagrees with that—strongly, it seems.
“They have great weapons on the outside. They just needed a quarterback that could get them the ball. The Bengals just got a lot better”, Ben Roethlisberger said of Joe Flacco on his Footbahlin podcast. “They now are a much more dangerous team”.
The Browns signed Flacco, who beat the Steelers last year with the Colts, early in the offseason. They brought him in before the draft as a veteran option, having previously traded for Kenny Pickett. But then they drafted Dillon Gabriel in the third round and Shedeur Sanders in the fifth. They named Flacco the starter, but they benched him four games into the season.
Despite that, the Steelers still respect his game, and Flacco showed in Week 6 that he still has some juice. In his Bengals debut, just days after the trade, he went 29-of-45 for 219 yards with 2 touchdown passes.
The Steelers might also want to note that the Bengals only allowed Flacco to be sacked once despite a high number of drop backs. And they were playing the Packers, who have Micah Parsons. Pittsburgh has some pretty good pass rushers, too, though.
“Joe Flacco does make me a little nervous, because he can throw the ball”, Roethlisberger repeated, which is what the Steelers are also saying about him. “And that’s what they need: somebody to throw the ball to those receivers. Because those receivers are really good”.
In his first game playing with Joe Flacco, Ja’Marr Chase caught 10 passes on 12 targets for 94 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown. Also, Tee Higgins caught five passes for 62 yards. With another game, and another few days, that would be a combination to worry about.
Despite Roethlisberger’s deference paid to Flacco, he still believes the Steelers will win. “We could take him lightly, but I think our defense is too strong right now”. After all, the Bengals have lost four in a row now and have scored under 20 points in three of them. And the run game has been abysmal, so their hopes are all tied to Flacco airing it out to those star receivers. Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, and Joey Porter Jr. will have something to say about that. As will T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig.
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