Joe Flacco led the Cincinnati Bengals to a much-needed win during “Thursday Night Football,” with a 33-31 victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Along the way, the elder quarterbacks Rodgers and Flacco achieved some unique history.
For Rodgers, it was him moving past Steelers great Ben Roethlisberger for fifth all-time in NFL passing yards. On the flip side, Flacco, who joined the Bengals after a trade with the Cleveland Browns, tied an impressive record held by the legendary Tom Brady.
The 40-year-old Flacco threw 31-of-47 completed passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns. During the game, he found several of the team’s star receivers multiple times all over the field and in the end zone. Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Noah Fant each added points to the scoreboard in their team’s win.
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Those three touchdown passes helped Flacco tie Brady’s 30 all-time touchdowns thrown against the Steelers, which ranks as the most thrown by a quarterback all-time versus Pittsburgh.
It’s worth noting that not many other quarterbacks are all that close to 30 against the Steelers. Sonny Jurgensen threw for 27, while Warren Moon, Brian Sipe, and Frank Ryan threw for 25 each in their careers, according to StatMuse’s data.
Flacco’s career has included stints with the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, and Cleveland Browns.
The win over the Steelers likely meant more to Flacco than achieving the record. He previously won Super Bowl MVP after guiding the Ravens to a Lombardi Trophy win in 2013.
During his postgame remarks to the “Thursday Night Football” crew on Prime Video, he shared how he recently had a conversation with his father and brothers about “how absurd” the Bengals receivers are, including Higgins and Chase, with how they catch some of the passes.
Chase finished the game with an impressive 161 yards on 16 receptions. Higgins had 96 yards on six catches, including one late-game reception that saw him slide to keep the clock running with the Bengals in field goal range to win.
The huge victory gave the Bengals an important win against a division opponent and moved their record to 3-4 for the season. That has them in second in the AFC North, with the Steelers, 4-2, just above them.
Next up for the Bengals will be another home game as they host the struggling New York Jets in Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 26. They’ll follow that with another home matchup against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Nov. 2.
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