Flacco Bowl: Jets will face former quarterback in Thursday Night Football matchup vs. Browns

After Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury four plays into the season opener, the Jets decided not to call Joe Flacco.

Flacco was unemployed at the time after spending the previous three seasons with Gang Green. The Jets’ loss was Cleveland’s gain.

Now Flacco is having the time of his life with the Browns leading us to Thursday night’s Flacco Bowl at Cleveland Browns Stadium in a Week 17 primetime showdown. After Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last month, Flacco has not only saved the Browns’ (10-5) season but has them contending for a Super Bowl run.

The 38-year-old quarterback was signed to the Browns practice squad on Nov. 20.

“Listen, there’s all kinds of things that happen throughout the course of the season and offseason and things like that, and I enjoyed my time while I was there and it is what it is,” Flacco told reporters on Tuesday about his time in New York.

“I’m happy to be where I am, that’s for sure.

“There’s 32 teams in the NFL. [The Jets] are just one of those teams. I’ve got a lot of guys over there I really respect and had an awesome few years within that locker room, so a lot of respect for those guys.”

In his four starts, Flacco has passed for 1,307 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has a quarterback rating of 85.1 and has won three of his four starts. During the last month, no one in the league has more passing yards than Flacco. Now he has the Browns on the brink of their first playoff appearance since 2020.

“Like some guys, it is like riding a bike and I think he is one of those,” Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson said about Flacco. “I talked to him last season after the season was over and he told me he wanted to go somewhere and play.

“He wanted to go somewhere and play and have an impact and he stood on that. I would say of the people here, no one is surprised.”

There’s also an outside chance Cleveland could still win the AFC North with wins in their final two games against the Jets and Bengals and if the Ravens lost their last two games (vs. the Dolphins and Steelers).

“I’d say being around some of those veterans over the years, they’ve seen a lot of football,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. “They’ve played a lot of football, they’ve been in different systems. So I think there are guys that with that amount of turns and with that amount of years in different systems, they can come in and operate pretty quickly.

“Now, you got to be very intelligent, and you got to work like crazy to do it. And I think Joe’s done both those things, but I think there’s enough similarity to the things that we’re doing that he’s done in the past, and I think he could lean into that experience.”

While the Browns have had a lot of success this season, the Jets (6-9) have been the complete opposite. Rodgers’ injury has led to a lost season.

The Jets only move was signing Trevor Siemian to the practice squad in late September. According to the team, they felt confident that Zach Wilson would be good enough to help lead the team to the playoffs.

Not only did that not happen, but Wilson was benched for the third time in a year. Jets coach Robert Saleh replaced Wilson for then-backup quarterback Tim Boyle during the third quarter of the team’s 32-6 loss to the Bills on Nov. 19. Then, following two terrible starts against the Dolphins and Falcons, the Jets released Boyle and elevated Wilson from third-string emergency quarterback to starter again.

However, Wilson will not play against the Browns on Thursday after suffering a concussion in the second quarter of the Jets’ 30-0 loss to the Dolphins in Week 15. Siemian will get the nod for the second straight week. But the Jets’ final two games are basically meaningless after they were eliminated following the loss to the Dolphins.

People inside the facility have a lot of admiration for Flacco and his time with the Jets. He started four games for the Jets in 2022 after Wilson’s meniscus tear and bone bruise on his right knee during the preseason. But not everyone was on the same page when it came to possibly re-signing Flacco, which is why the Jets didn’t call the Audubon, N.J., native after Rodgers’ injury.

Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas have to be kicking themselves after seeing what the Browns have become, and seeing the Jets wasting a top-five defense for the second consecutive year.

“We love Joe first and foremost,” Saleh said. “Obviously, we spent a couple of years with him. Love him, really pumped for him and the success that he’s having, but it is just the decision that we made in terms of the quarterback room and the way we developed it in OTAs and training camp.

“Never regret. You always go into things with what you hope will be a sound decision. The biggest thing is to reflect upon it and see what we could have done better as a coaching staff and as an organization. Every decision that we make comes with deep thoughts and logic. There’s no regret there.”

The Jets have to feel this season is a big what if because they and the Browns are mirror images of each other. Like the Jets, Cleveland has used four different starting quarterbacks this year [Watson, Flacco, P.J. Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson].

The Browns have also suffered season-ending injuries to their starting running back (Nick Chubb) and offensive line (Jack Conklin, Dawand Jones, Jedrick Wills Jr.), but yet they still managed to not only remain competitive but be one of the best teams in the AFC.

Another common denominator is both the Browns and Jets have elite defenses. Cleveland will enter Thursday’s game with the No. 1 rank defense in the NFL (260.3 yards allowed per game). Gang Green allows 294.8 yards per game, which is third in the league.

Flacco Bowl will be highlighted by the two starting quarterbacks. However, the game will likely come down to the defenses and which one can create the most havoc and turnovers.

“The team speed, the confidence that they play with,” Garrett Wilson said about the Browns defense. “They know their scheme and they obviously got great players as well.

“They have a great group.”