The Cincinnati Bengals will start 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco on Sunday after a trade with the Cleveland Browns this week, and Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is confident in a turnaround coming.
Flacco helped the Browns reach the playoffs in 2023 when he filled in for the injured Deshaun Watson. This time around, Flacco will look to halt a three-game skid for the Bengals after starter Joe Burrow went down with a toe injury in Week 2.
“That’s why we like him. That’s why we brought him in. Because he fits what we do,” Taylor told reporters on Wednesday. “You don’t have to change much. Now you just have to get him up to speed with the full scope of what you have in your arsenal.”
Flacco will take over an offense that was thriving with Burrow but fell apart with backup Jake Browning in the past three weeks. Browning’s struggles necessitated the trade on Tuesday and Flacco’s quick study of the Bengals offense.
“Yesterday, felt like I said there are 24 hours in a day. I felt like there were 36 hours in yesterday. We just tried to cover all the base pieces of information. You like to knock out personnel and formations and motions and the easy stuff, and then when you get in here, get the nuts and bolts,” Taylor said.
“We probably talked some run game last night, I think, on the phone too, got into the run game plan and just the easy stuff that he knew, and it all sounds familiar,” Taylor added. “So he’ll be ready to roll.”
Zac Taylor Like What He Saw in Joe Flacco
Taylor had only faced Flacco a few times but believed he could fit in with the Bengals offense right away. That’s despite Flacco’s struggles with the 4-1 Browns, too.
“I know his game. Played against him (three times) … I’m very comfortable with his style, concepts he’s been good at, things that fit us that we do,” Taylor explained. “The terminology there is a lot of carryover, more so than what I would have anticipated, so feel like we can get him up to speed quickly.”
Joe Flacco Already Faced Bengals’ Next Opponent
It doesn’t hurt that Flacco has seen the Bengals’ next opponent — the Green Bay Packers — once already. Flacco helped the Browns comeback and beat the Packers 13-10 in Week 3.
“Now, at least the one advantage we do have with bringing Joe Flacco in here specifically is he’s watched tape for a week. He’s played this game,” Taylor added. “He’ll still need to do the same thing, because they played two games since then, but at the same time, it’s at least there’s in the back of his mind. ‘I’ve played these guys, and I have an understanding of how they try to attack you.’”
Flacco completed 21 of 36 passes for 142 yards against the Packers. He has a 58.1% completion rate for 815 yards and two touchdowns this season, but he also had six interceptions.
Turnovers are notably what plagued Browning, who threw for 747 yards and six touchdowns but got picked off eight times in the process. Cincinnati named Flacco the starter for Sunday, the day after his arrival following Tuesday’s trade.
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