CINCINNATI — Sometimes the measure of a great leader doesn’t come in the wins, it comes in the grace and professionalism demonstrated in losses.
And unfortunately for Joe Flacco, that has been on full display for the last seven weeks.
On Sunday, in what will likely be his final start with the Bengals before Joe Burrow returns Thursday night in Baltimore, Flacco overcame a sluggish offensive start, worked without Ja’Marr Chase, lost Andrei Iosivas to an injured shoulder and lost Tee Higgins to a concussion late. Still, he had a chance to pull off the win in the final two minutes.
Three incomplete passes at the New England 26 sealed his fate and the Bengals fell again, 26-20, to the Patriots. The loss was Cincinnati’s fourth straight and eighth in nine games. Flacco has only tasted victory once – in his second start against the Steelers on Oct. 16. Flacco is 1-5 as a starter, which doesn’t begin to do justice to the stability he has brought to the locker room and the building, in general.
Yes, NFL starting quarterbacks get paid to win games like Sunday, a game that was again there for the taking. But in another lost season that the Bengals are suffering through, Flacco has steadied the offense. He not only offered a strong arm to drive the ball downfield to Chase and Higgins, he ran the offense with great proficiency, getting rid of the ball quickly.
Yes, he threw a pair of pick-6s in his last two starts but overall, Flacco was running the offense effectively enough to give the Bengals a chance to win. All due respect to Jake Browning, that’s precisely the Bengals were lacking before Flacco arrived on the scene. Browning’s arm didn’t strike fear into any defenses. That changed when Flacco arrived on the scene.
Flacco completed 61.6 percent of his passes, tossing 13 touchdowns while throwing four interceptions. He threw for 470 yards against the Bears and lost. He threw for 342 against the Steelers on Oct. 16 and won. He deserved two more wins than he got. And all the while, there was no griping. His production was off the last two games, including Sunday against the Patriots, completing 19-of-37 for 183 yards, a touchdown and a pick-6 to Marcus Jones.
One could argue he hasn’t been the same since getting hit at the end of the Bears game and injuring his right shoulder, spraining his AC joint and taking shots to ease the pain. But that’s the point with Flacco, he’s done everything in his power not to miss a snap. When he left in the fourth quarter of the Bears game, he got treated and was back on the field before the next offensive series.
On Sunday, he clanged his right index finger off a helmet on a rush when he completed a 13-yard pass to Mike Gesicki. He missed one snap and was back in the game moments later after a timeout after popping the finger back in place.
“I mean, you can’t put it into words,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “He didn’t owe anything to this team — he just showed up. And so, he could take the easy way out and nurse an injury and say ‘I need more rest,’ and all that stuff. He hasn’t. He just keeps walking on the field. Pops his finger out, and whatever happened there, hurting your throwing hand is not easy. To go out there and push through that, and Jake response, he goes out there and completes one pass for 15 yards with not a moment’s notice. Just a lot of examples of guys just wanting to do whatever it takes to find a win.”
Ever since being acquired on Oct. 7 in a trade with the Browns, Flacco has done nothing but try and get himself ready to go on the field and be the best quarterback for the Bengals.
“As a competitor, you always want to be out there on the field. This is what I live to do, is to go out on that field and play football,” Flacco said. “At the same time, I feel myself fortunate to be in this situation. As much as I would have loved to have seen us win games, I still have had a lot of fun here with these guys in the locker room. Going out, lacing them up with these guys has been a lot of fun. I’ve felt right at home, and had a blast doing it. I don’t think I’m looking at anything past that. I get it. I get how certain feelings can be involved, but in this case, it’s easy to to put those aside and go out and just look at the positives of the whole thing and be excited for a teammate trying to work his way back.”
Flacco’s self-awareness is off the charts. He may not know every face in the locker room but he’s done his best to be the best teammate on a team that is run by Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.
“It might sound like crap and I’m lying, and yeah, there’s a tough part about not being out there — there always is — but I feel like I’ve put my head down and worked hard however long it’s been, and I’ve had a lot of fun with these guys. When you’re in the with guys and you make relationships with them and you’re out there battling on the field with them, you can look each other in the eye and know you’ve been going about it the right way, then you can’t really worry about the other things.”
In other words, don’t worry whether Joe Burrow is returning Thursday night or not. Just go out and take your reps. Of course, Flacco is human but in the end, that’s the only way a guy like Flacco knows how to handle the midseason changes at quarterback that are now commonplace in the NFL.
“I think that’s ultimately the secret in terms of this league, playing football. You want things to happen, but there’s got to be a piece of you that lets it happen,” Flacco told me. “You can’t force things — you just can’t. I think as you get older and the more you plan and just experience everything, you realize that. You gain a little bit of perspective. There’s times in the moment where you still want to try to do too much. The more you do it, you find out the secret is to just go out there and do what you love to do to the best of your ability and let the things fall in place. I think if you get a collective group of guys doing that, then you have what you want.”
Flacco may have played last snap with the Bengals but he’s given everything he had in seven weeks.
“I think playing quarterback, it’s always week-to-week,” Flacco said. “Sometimes, you get really beat up, and sometimes you play really physical games, and sometimes you don’t. I really don’t think, because I’m 40, I feel different waking up. Everybody always says that once you hit 30 or once you hit 40, wait until you get out of bed, then this happens. Yeah, I have to stay on top of things more. I’m so much better at taking care of myself and actually doing things to prepare my body for success than I was at 25 years old. I think if there is any drop off at 40, you’re a little more aware on how to do things.”
