The Denver Broncos will officially kickoff the Joe Flacco era on Monday, and they'll be taking on their division rival the Oakland Raiders. Flacco is in his first year in the AFC West, but he has some familiarity with Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther.
Flacco spent the first 11 years of his career with the Ravens, and Guenther was in the AFC North with him for that entire time. Guenther was an assistant coach with the Bengals from 2005-2017, serving as the defensive coordinator for the last four of those years.
With the Ravens and Bengals playing each other twice a year, they've done battle plenty of times.
Speaking to the media recently Flacco talked about that familiarity and how it'll help him prepare for Monday's game.
“I faced him a bunch in Cincinnati there,” Flacco said Wednesday, per Jon Heath of the Broncos Wire. “On base downs, they’re going to do what they do. They’re also going to throw in their pressures and see if you’re ready to handle them. They’re going to all-out blitz you once you get down in there or when the critical time comes.”
“When I played him in Cincinnati, they’ve always had a good front that’s been able to get after you a little bit and he’s been able to show you multiple looks to kind of keep you off balance with those. Like I said, we’ve got to play our game and not worry as much as we can about his,” he continued.
Flacco flamed out in Baltimore, and is now looking to revive his career with the Broncos. Denver drafted Drew Lock in the second round back in April, but fortunately for Flacco he'll miss at least the first eight games of the season with a thumb injury.
It's anyone's guess as to how Flacco will look in 2019, but at least he won't be caught off-guard by the defensive scheme in the opener.
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