When Mike Tomlin spoke with the media during his Week 4 press conference, he let the cat out of the bag ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers' matchup against the Cleveland Browns. These two AFC North rivals weren't scheduled to play in Week 6, but Tomlin made it clear: he didn't want to face quarterback Joe Flacco.
Tomlin was adamant that, when his team faced the Colts in 2024, the plan was to keep quarterback Anthony Richardson upright. This was to prevent Flacco from entering the game. That didn't happen.
When Richardson went down early in the game with an injury, Flacco stepped in, and the defense struggled to slow him down. The Steelers lost to Flacco when the veteran quarterback was with the Colts during the 2024 season. In this game, Pittsburgh's defense surrendered 27 points to Flacco and company in the loss.
Interestingly, Tomlin now has just a .500 record of 11-11 when facing Flacco throughout the years.
Recently, the Browns gave little care to Tomlin's comments, making the switch at quarterback from Flacco to third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel. But the Cincinnati Bengals are already looking to haunt the Steelers in Week 7 after the bold trade move they just made.
The Pittsburgh Steelers can't avoid Joe Flacco after the Cincinnati Bengals trade for the veteran QB
In a surprising move on Tuesday, the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals made a rare, in-division trade. The Browns sent quarterback Flacco to the Bengals in exchange for a 2026 fifth and sixth-round pick swap. The compensation seems insignificant, but for a chance to salvage the season, Cincinnati was willing to gamble on a low-cost trade.
The Browns benched Flacco after a disappointing start to the 2025 season. Now the 40-year-old quarterback will attempt to keep his new team afloat. We can assume this trade move means that Jake Browning, who has struggled mightily since the injury to QB Joe Burrow, is heading to the bench.
While Flacco will be playing behind a questionable offensive line, he will get a massive improvement in receiving weapons—going from top option Jerry Jeudy and David Njoku in Cleveland to Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. This might be the spark Cincy needed to give itself a chance to pull off the upset against Pittsburgh in Week 7.
Tomlin made his stance on Flacco clear: the Steelers head coach doesn't want to face the nearly two-decade-long starting quarterback, even in his old age. Though Flacco lacks any sort of mobility at the position, he's still a big-bodied quarterback who knows how to go through progressions and deliver an accurate football.
Shockingly, the Cincinnati Bengals would be 'on the bubble' if the playoffs started today, as they currently hold the eighth seed in the AFC. Let's hope Joe Flacco doesn't have one more upset in him in Week 7 when he faces the Pittsburgh Steelers.