Joe Flacco has dealt with a crazy couple of weeks in the NFL. He began the year as the starting QB for the Cleveland Browns but was traded recently to the Cincinnati Bengals before their Week 6 game against the Green Bay Packers.
The Bengals, understandably, lost that game, but Cincy did have a short turnaround and faced the Pittsburgh Steelers at home on Thursday Night Football. Shockingly, the Bengals beat the Steelers and snapped their four-game winning streak.
With Joe Burrow wanting to return later in the season, it's clear that the Bengals need to stay around the .500 mark if they plan on making an unlikely playoff push, and with how well Flacco has played in his short Bengals' tenure, the Denver Broncos actually dodged a massive bullet here.
Joe Flacco seems to have the Bengals on the right track after massive TNF win
A few weeks ago on Monday Night Football, the Denver Broncos hosted the Cincinnati Bengals, but it was a couple of weeks before Flacco arrived. Jake Browning ended up getting the start, and he and the Bengals' offense got worked by the Broncos' defense. Browning threw six touchdowns against eight interceptions before Cincy had enough.
In Joe Flacco's two games with the Bengals, he's thrown 561 yards, five touchdowns, and 0 interceptions for a stellar 100 passer rating. After Cincy's latest win with Flacco under center, it's clear that the Broncos would have had a much harder time beating the Bengals had he been their starter.
Thankfully, though, Jake Browning was still QB1. The Denver Broncos have instead won three games in a row, and the Steelers loss drops them to 4-2, so the Broncos are now tied with a few other teams for the second-best record in the AFC, only behind the Indianapolis Colts.
Denver has to deal with QBs like Jaxson Dart, Dak Prescott, CJ Stroud, Geno Smith, and Patrick Mahomes in their five games before the bye week. Before the 2025 season began, many fans had circled the Broncos' game against the Bengals after the all-time game they had late in the 2024 NFL Season.
Overall, Denver is in a good spot and did dodge a huge bullet with Joe Flacco playing some insane football for the Cincinnati Bengals over the last two weeks.