NFL

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin not happy about facing veteran QB Joe Flacco

As the Steelers prepare to face Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh’s Tomlin has questioned the Browns’ wisdom in trading the quarterback.

As the Steelers prepare to face Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh’s Tomlin has questioned the Browns’ wisdom in trading the quarterback.
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William Allen
British journalist and translator who joined Diario AS in 2013. Focuses on soccer – chiefly the Premier League, LaLiga, the Champions League, the Liga MX and MLS. On occasion, also covers American sports, general news and entertainment. Fascinated by the language of sport – particularly the under-appreciated art of translating cliché-speak.
Update:

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin says he can’t understand why the Cleveland Browns let Joe Flacco join the Cincinnati Bengals last week, as Pittsburgh prepares to face Flacco’s new team on Thursday Night Football.

Flacco has been installed as the new starting quarterback at Paycor Stadium, after the Browns traded the 40-year-old to Cincinnati in a deal that saw the Bengals send a fifth-round pick to Cleveland.

Replacing Jake Browning in the Bengals lineup, Flacco made his Cincinnati debut last Sunday, throwing for 219 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-18 defeat to the Green Bay Packers.

Flacco is now set to start under center against the Steelers in Week 7 - and Tomlin has publicly questioned the decision by Andrew Berry, the Browns’ general manager, to offload the 18-year NFL veteran, who started for Cleveland in Weeks 1 to 4. Flacco’s departure leaves rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders as the Browns’ QB options.

“Doesn’t make sense to me”

“To be honest, it was shocking to me,” Tomlin told reporters as he looked ahead to Thursday’s clash in Ohio.

“Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us, because it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area. But that’s just my personal feelings.”

Before Flacco’s arrival in Cincinnati, Browning had struggled in his three games as starter, having been promoted from backup in the wake of a serious toe injury to the Bengals’ No. 1 quarterback, the two-time Pro Bowler Joe Burrow.

Having undergone surgery in September, Burrow is set for a reported three-month absence.

Tomlin expects “significantly better” Flacco on TNF

Now that Flacco has had game time with his new team, Tomlin told reporters on Monday, the former Super Bowl MVP is likely to be “significantly better” when he suits up for the Bengals once more on Thursday.

“He’s been in a stadium with them, they’ve been in a stadium with him, they understand his demeanor, how he deals with circumstances,” said Tomlin, who lauded Flacco as a “savvy, talented thrower”.

The Steelers head coach continued: “I would imagine [the Bengals] worked hard a week ago [on the practice field] on developing timing and cohesion - and I would imagine it’s taken a significant step after having done so under live football circumstances.”

Steelers vs Bengals: kickoff time, how to watch

The Thursday Night Football matchup between the Steelers and the Bengals takes place at Paycor Stadium at 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT. The game is to air on Amazon Prime Video. You can also follow live-text coverage of the action at AS USA.

Pittsburgh head into Week 7 with a 4-1 record, after beating a Flacco-less Browns 23-9 in Week 6. The Bengals are 2-4, having lost their last four games.

Per the NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati is set to be only the fourth league game since 1950 to feature two starting quarterbacks aged 40 or older.

Opposite Flacco, the Steelers are to field 41-year-old QB Aaron Rodgers, who has started all five of Pittsburgh’s 2025 games since joining on a one-year contract in June.

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