Joe Flacco was 38 years old, coming off a bad season with the New York Jets and was unsigned all offseason. This is usually how NFL careers end, even ones as good as Flacco has had. Players fade away and we never realize it.
But Flacco said he wanted to keep playing. He was waiting on the right job to open up.
“I’m hoping that there’s the silver lining that I’m not anywhere right now and that I can be available to anybody,” Flacco told ESPN in September, and maybe that was a bit of wishful thinking.
Quarterback play has been a mess around the NFL this season due to injuries and disappointing seasons. That’s why the Flacco story stands out.
Flacco boarded a commercial flight a few weeks ago when the Cleveland Browns, who had lost Deshaun Watson, needed QB depth.
Rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson wasn’t impressive. Neither was veteran backup P.J. Walker. Still, there had to be steps for Flacco, a 15-year veteran and former Super Bowl MVP, to get a chance to start. But Flacco was right: He was available when a situation finally came along.
It happened and it has been better than you’d expect, if you watched Flacco struggle last season. Flacco was OK in a loss last week to the Los Angeles Rams, then was a steadying factor in the Browns’ 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Flacco threw two early touchdowns that gave the Browns confidence. With the Jaguars rallying in the second half, Flacco threw another TD in the fourth quarter to extend Cleveland’s lead.
Flacco ended up with 311 yards and three touchdowns. The Browns threw it 45 times, which says a lot about their trust level in Flacco in just his second game.
Flacco might go from his couch to starting a playoff game. Cleveland is 8-5 and in good shape for at least an AFC wild-card spot. That was shaky after Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury, but Flacco might be saving the Browns’ season. There’s no way the Browns can justify going back to Thompson-Robinson after Sunday.
It’s not like the Browns need Flacco to throw for 300 yards and three TDs every week either.
They have a great defense and need just competency at quarterback. It’s not that much different than the setup Flacco had with the 2012 Baltimore Ravens, when he helped them win a Super Bowl that season. Yet it was beyond unlikely Flacco would be in that position again for a playoff team 12 years later.
In the fourth quarter Flacco had a fourth-and-3 and a busted coverage left receiver David Bell wide open over the middle.
Flacco made his easiest pass of the day for a 41-yard touchdown, which gave Cleveland a 28-14 lead. Cameras followed Flacco running downfield to celebrate with Bell, with the type of enthusiasm you’d expect from someone who wanted to keep playing football, had to wrestle with the possibility he might not get that shot, and then found himself having a huge day for a team that is trending toward a playoff spot.
Flacco’s surprising career revival could end up being one of the best stories of this season.
Anytime you get a little taste of playing football, you want to keep that going for as long as possible,” Flacco said this past week.