Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco appears to have found the fountain of youth with the Cincinnati Bengals, as he is having a surprising stint with his new team. At 40 years old, the Super Bowl-winning QB tossed a career-high 470 passing yards to go with two touchdowns on 31-of-47 pass completions on Sunday against the Chicago Bears at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.
Unfortunately for Flacco, his career night and late-game heroics ultimately went to waste, as the Bengals surrendered a one-point lead with under a minute left in regulation to suffer a stunning 47-42 loss at the hands of Caleb Williams and the visiting Browns.
Despite the painful nature of Cincinnati's loss, Flacco appeared to be much calmer in his acknowledgment of the setback than most fans, who watched the Bengals lose on a late-game touchdown score by Chicago tight end Colston Loveland.
“I think when you've played a lot of games, the way you lose doesn't make it any worse, necessarily,” Flacco said after the game, per Courtney Cronin Ben Baby of ESPN. “I think you learn that these games come down to the last minute and you've got to be ready for anything.”
Flacco and the Bengals entered Week 9 looking to bounce back from a bitter 39-38 loss to the New York Jets in Week 8, in which they squandered a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter. But Cincinnati had another meltdown on Sunday.
After going up by a point following a nine-yard touchdown by Bengals wide receiver Andrei Iosivas off a Flacco toss with just 54 seconds remaining in the fourth period, the Bears successfully engineered a four-play scoring drive that was punctuated by Colston's touchdown.
Cincinnati's defense has since been catching heat from fans and even from players on the Bengals' offense — but certainly Flacco, who seems to be already looking at what's ahead for the team.
The Bengals dropped to 3-6 following the loss to the Bears, but there's still plenty of time for them to figure things out. They are third in the AFC North standings, behind the 5-3 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 3-5 Baltimore Ravens.
Up ahead for Cincinnati is a bye in Week 10. The Bengals will get back to action in Week 11, with a rematch versus the Steelers on the road.
