00:00Joe Flacco is back.
00:02Let's get into the breaking news of the day right here on Cincinnati Bengals Talk.
00:07Hi again, everyone, and welcome into CBT.
00:09I'm James Rapine, and, well, hopefully you found out because you're a member here on Cincinnati Bengals Talk.
00:15But Joe Flacco has agreed to a one-year contract.
00:18That deal expected it to be finalized with the Bengals on Wednesday morning where Joe F, Joey F, Joe Cool,
00:26whatever you want to talk to, whatever you want to say.
00:28Joe Flacco is back.
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00:51Christian's got you covered.
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00:54And Joe Flacco has the Bengals covered.
00:56That's what this is.
00:57This is the best way to make sure that your offense will stay afloat and then some.
01:05And then some.
01:07It's one of those things where everyone wanted Joe Flacco back.
01:11And they wanted him back because, one, he instilled belief in them last year.
01:16And so, and I can confirm this, by the way, I think Tom Pellicero was the one to report it
01:20publicly.
01:21I had heard rumblings of it a few hours or a few days ago, excuse me, got confirmation probably four
01:27or five hours ago, threw that up to members about an hour ago when I got even more confirmation.
01:33And Joe Flacco is scheduled to speak on Wednesday.
01:36And, look, this is great news.
01:38It's great news because, one, when you go back to that Green Bay week and you got me talking about
01:44different options, and I never thought the Bengals would trade with the Browns.
01:47Like, I thought that that would be a thing, and I think there was some hesitation there, but it eventually
01:53did happen.
01:54Joe Flacco gets to town, and it's like, man, he's thrown six interceptions and four starts.
02:01Two touchdowns, six interceptions.
02:02He's going to turn the ball over a ton.
02:04And he didn't do that.
02:05He was the opposite.
02:06He brought confidence to the team.
02:08Ted Karras was like, Joe Flacco's a Hall of Famer.
02:10We're going to be in good shape now.
02:11He gave them belief.
02:13He gave them confidence that they could overcome the loss of Joe Burrow and stay in the hunt until Joe
02:18Burrow could come back, who I knew was working like a madman to come back.
02:21And for Joe Flacco, you look at it and you're like, well, he didn't play that well.
02:26He was one in five as a starter.
02:28Oh, yes, he did.
02:29And for those that watched, know how good he was, and you just look at the stats, completed 61.7
02:35% of his passes, 1,664 yards, 13 touchdowns, four interceptions, a 91 overall quarterback rating, just really played like
02:44the pro bowler that he ended up being.
02:45And that's the beauty when you see a veteran like that, that just five, four days after being traded is
02:56able to go into Lambeau and start for you.
03:00And in that second half, they had a real shot.
03:01Like it was third and seven, third and eight, get off the field.
03:04And suddenly Flacco has the ball down five, down six, whatever it was, touchdown wins the game.
03:09And they had that chance and the defense didn't get the stop.
03:12And that's, that's what I think is great about this is the offense is still going to have to be
03:16the leader, the key cog.
03:18Your offense cannot shut down and completely close up shop and be out of order.
03:22If Joe Burrow isn't on the field, is it going to be as good?
03:25No, but it can't go out of order.
03:27And so now I look at this and I see Joe Burrow, the best quarterback on the planet, when healthy
03:33or one of them, I see Joe Flacco, easily one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league has been
03:38there, done that, has seen everything.
03:40And I see Josh Johnson, who is better than Jake Browning, who is an upgrade from Jake Browning, who is
03:45a quality player in that role.
03:48And the Bengals may have the best quarterback room in the NFL.
03:53And I'll say it again, because it does matter.
03:55However, the Bengals may have the best quarterback room in the NFL and Joe Flacco is obviously a big reason
04:01why getting him back.
04:03I think he was expecting to have options to start and there might have been like the Jets were rumored
04:08to be interested in, in reuniting with Flacco.
04:10I don't think he was open to that.
04:12The Browns have been mentioned.
04:13I don't think he was open to that early on.
04:15It was Atlanta and obviously they went after Tua.
04:18And I just think that Joe was so comfortable here, believes in the coaches, believes in certainly Jamar Chase and
04:24T Higgins.
04:25And I think that's a huge part of it.
04:28And the thing that I go back to is Jamar Chase and what Flacco wrote on Jamar Chase's jersey.
04:36He's like, you're going to be the greatest of all time.
04:39And I'm paraphrasing.
04:40I put it on X at the time.
04:42But like that happening is just one of those things where it's like, holy moly, you have a guy.
04:50That is going to believe he can go in and win anywhere you are.
04:55If Joe Burrow gets nicked up, if Joe Burrow has a concussion, if Joe Burrow has to miss a few
04:58series, if Joe Burrow can't go on the road and start against Baltimore, if Joe Burrow can't go up to
05:02Pittsburgh, if Joe Burrow can't start in a wildcard run, like whatever it is.
05:07Backup quarterback is important.
05:09And I think the Bengals last year, they believed in Jake Browning.
05:11I do think that.
05:12I also think that they realized he's an undrafted, small quarterback that overall performed probably to his ceiling a few
05:21years ago.
05:22And so I know there were murmurs, little rumblings about that.
05:25And then he goes out there and plays the way he did and was good against Jacksonville, up and down,
05:29but good against Jacksonville when you needed him.
05:31Three touchdowns, three picks, good enough.
05:33And then it was just a disaster.
05:35And they were like, all right, well, we have to improve here.
05:37And I think the Bengals-Browns trade, it took a second, and you get it done, you get Joe Flacco
05:42in here.
05:43And from that moment, the belief in the locker room, it changed everything.
05:46It changed everything.
05:47And that's what this signing is to me.
05:49If something does happen, there will be belief in Joe Flacco.
05:53And if Joe Flacco screws up and has a bad game like Browning did in Minnesota, he's going to be
05:59able to put it behind him because he's been there, he's done that, he has the pieces, and he believes
06:06in those pieces too.
06:07He thinks Jermar Chase is the best receiver ever, raves about Tee Higgins.
06:11This is the kind of move you want.
06:13And so I don't think it can be overstated, this kind of move, because of what Flacco brings, because of
06:20the calming demeanor, because of Burrow's injury history.
06:23And then here's the final big point, what it means for Joe Burrow.
06:27Joe Burrow hasn't had this kind of guy in his quarterback room.
06:32The proven Super Bowl ring, family man, I'm going to go eat at a restaurant by myself.
06:38I'm going to enjoy.
06:40The down-to-earthness that comes with Joe Flacco, I think Joe Burrow is going to appreciate, and I think
06:47it's going to help him.
06:48I think Joe is going to benefit from being around Joe Flacco.
06:53And obviously there's the play style element and all of those things, know when to kill a play and not
06:58take a hit and all of those things, fine.
06:59But I just mean, like Joe Burrow is one of the most famous players in the league, and he's going
07:05to be invited to a bunch of stuff and do all of these things.
07:07But having a guy that's just, I'm just one of the dudes, and I'm just going to play, and I
07:14love football, and I'm not going to overreact to a win.
07:16I'm not going to overreact to a loss that's part of the league.
07:21That maturity, a guy that's been to the mountaintop, that one Super Bowl MVP, that now has been to a
07:27Pro Bowl, that has a bunch of kids at home and a wife, that is, I think, a grounding presence
07:35in a way.
07:36And it's like having that awesome, reliable co-worker that you know he's going to show up, you know he's
07:42going to be there, you know he's going to be reliable, and when called upon, he's going to be ready
07:45to go.
07:46And that's what the Bengals are getting with Joe Flacco.
07:48Obviously, he can still sling it.
07:50This is a big, big addition.
07:52Like I said, it cannot be overstated, bringing back Joe Flacco, what it means to this Bengals team.
07:57So, huge.
07:58We're going to hear from Joe Flacco on Wednesday.
08:00We're going to hear from you tonight, 8.
08:03It's Enter the Jungle.
08:05Andrew and I have already, the haze in the barn when it comes to that show, plenty of discussion on
08:10their biggest weaknesses on defense, all of those things.
08:12But Joe Flacco is a Bengal one-year deal.
08:16So, we will have you covered every step of the way here on Cincinnati Bengals Talk.
08:20For more, check out BengalsTalk.com.
08:22And until next time, for Andrew Fox Miller, I'm James Rapine.
08:25Thank you so much for watching and listening to Cincinnati Bengals Talk.
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