{"id":35004,"date":"2025-10-09T11:45:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=35004"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:45:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:45:13","slug":"breaking-news-nfl-insider-explains-why-joe-flaccos-a-game-changer-for-bengals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=35004","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING NEWS : NFL Insider Explains Why Joe Flacco’s A Game-Changer For Bengals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CINCINNATI \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0Joe Flacco is the\u00a0Bengals’\u00a0new starting quarterback, and Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer thinks\u00a0it’s\u00a0a\u00a0“game-changer”\u00a0for the\u00a0Bengals’\u00a0season.<\/p>\n

He has a\u00a0serious\u00a0belief that Flacco could win enough games for the Bengals to eventually let Joe Burrow come back and punch home a playoff spot. ESPN’s Football Power Index gives Cincinnati an 8.7% chance to make the playoffs, the lowest odds of any 2-3 team. Ironically, the Bengals playoff chances decreased<\/em> following the Flacco trade from 9.2% to 8.7%.<\/p>\n

“I\u00a0think that Joe Flacco is in two ways,”\u00a0Breer wrote.\u00a0“One, he\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0need to be great.\u00a0He\u00a0just\u00a0needs to be average, which would give the Bengals a level of quarterback play they\u00a0just\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0getting from Jake Browning, who, for whatever reason,\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0throwing it or seeing it the way he did two years ago (his arm really died the past couple of weeks).\u00a0Two, the idea\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0that\u00a0Flacco\u2019s\u00a0going to run off seven or eight consecutive wins before handing the reins back to Joe Burrow\u2014it\u2019s\u00a0to keep the team alive through a reasonable schedule.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ve\u00a0said it a ton, and\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0say it again: The opportunity to enter the playoffs with Burrow as your quarterback is gold, and should\u00a0be treated\u00a0as such. The Bengals, I think, greatly improved their chances of making that happen on Tuesday, and\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0need to get Flacco a time machine for it. Adequate might be enough.”<\/p>\n

Average would be\u00a0great\u00a0from\u00a0Flacco, but there has been zero sign this season that he can climb from the bottom of the barrel, let alone play average.<\/p>\n

Browning ranks last among qualified NFL QBs in EPA\/play. The next spot ahead of him? Flacco, who actually rates worse in\u00a0ESPN’s\u00a0QBR than Browning.<\/p>\n

Now, that was with arguably the worst receiving corps in the NFL from the Browns. Having\u00a0Cincinnati’s\u00a0elite weapons could pull him from those depths.\u00a0The same could be said\u00a0the other way with\u00a0Cincinnati’s\u00a0offensive line, which is statistically the worst\u00a0offensive line\u00a0in the league, and\u00a0it’s\u00a0not that close.<\/p>\n

We will start to find out which weighs heavier on Sunday against the Packers at 4:25 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n

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Pass protection composite ratings<\/p>\n

Audibly laughed when I saw the bottom 2. Have fun with that, Joe Flacco pic.twitter.com\/kdZLaOXKFS<\/a><\/p>\n

— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) October 8, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n