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Green Bay Packers defense gets chance to avenge loss at the hands of Joe Flacco

The most jaded Packers fans and rabble-rousers love to point out the new Cincinnati Bengals QB has faced Green Bay before. They're right, but in the opposite way they mean.

Peter Bukowski's avatar
Peter Bukowski
Oct 09, 2025
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One pass. In a game the Cleveland Browns won 13-10, Joe Flacco completed one pass that mattered the entire game. It went for eight yards. On 3rd-and-2 from just inside Green Bay Packers territory, the 40-year-old soon-to-be-benched-for-Dillon-Gabriel quarterback hit David Njoku for eight yards to set up the game-winning field goal. The most sanctimonious misanthropes in Cheesehead Nation relish in pointing out Flacco will get a second crack at the Packers’ defense because the Browns won, but the truth is, in a rematch, the advantage is decidedly on Green Bay’s turf.

Jason Hirschhorn laid out the case yesterday as to why Flacco’s arrival, particularly on short notice, fails to change much of the calculus around the tilt set for Lambeau Field on Sunday.

The theory for success looks like this: Flacco has a more powerful arm to drive the ball down the field against the Packers’ defense, one he’s already seen this season, relative to Jake Browning. That’s a nice theory that is wholly unsupported by reality.

Before he was benched for a rookie who was forced to make his first start against Brian Flores after traveling 3,000 miles, Flacco was one of the least aggressive downfield throwers in the NFL. In fact, the only guy who generated less EPA on long passes than Flacco this season is the guy he’s replacing.

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