CLEVELAND — Joe Flacco wore every day of his 40 years and every game of his 18 seasons on his face.
The Browns quarterback carried the look of a man who had been through three hours of hell, or something equivalent. Yet, it was also that of a man who had somehow emerged from all of that in a better place.
That’s exactly how it went for Flacco in the Browns’ 13-10 win over the Green Bay Packers.
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“You don’t enjoy that until the very end,” Flacco said. “I mean there was not a lot of enjoyment today, until the very end. I’m sure you can ask the fans. … I get it, man, it’s hard. I mean, this was not, yeah, you’re not necessarily enjoying yourself. I mean, you’re still grateful to be out there and be on the football field, but you’re not out there just loving life when you’re getting your butt kicked and you can’t put any points on the board and all that.”
Flacco never took a single snap while in possession of the lead against the Packers. There’s a slightly alternative universe where, if he doesn’t get the last snap he took in this game a split second or two sooner, who knows if the Browns are even celebrating at the end.
Tight end David Njoku takes one more step up field after catching Flacco’s final forward pass, and time may have run out before the quarterback could spike the ball instead of stopping with two seconds remaining. Time runs out, and there’s no 55-yard kick to win it by Andre Szmyt.
Flacco may have never experienced something unfold exactly the way the win over Green Bay unfolded. Except that, in a lot of ways, he’s seen versions of it — both good and bad — ever since he first came into the league in 2008.
“I mean, you could probably imagine, but you don’t really know because you haven’t experienced it, but when you’re running out in the field after however many minutes of not putting a point on the board, it’s hard,” Flacco said. “It’s hard. And you got to be able to keep a straight face and somehow keep it together. We talked all week about playing complementary football, and I don’t think until you experience it, you truly understand what that could possibly mean. But today, I feel like we spoke it into existence today and we came out of here with a win because of it.”
Flacco’s been around too long to allow one bad decision or one failed drive to completely throw him off his game. So a number of bad throws and seven unsuccessful drives, as was the case for Flacco and the Browns offense over the first three-and-a-half quarters, wasn’t about to dissuade him.
The veteran simply moved on to the next drive, the next throw. The stat line of 21-of-36, 142 yards with an interception won’t certainly go in Flacco’s top five, although the result will absolutely be one he remembers for a while.
In fact, sometimes the memories come on games like the one Flacco played against the Packers.
“A piece of you, there’s always that inner battle,” Flacco said. “You are a little embarrassed and that piece of you that wants to just put your head down and hide. You can’t do that. That’s not what being a professional in this sport is all about. You have to be able to hold your head up and take it. Just take the onslaught of crap that possibly may come your way, and you just got to continue to go out there and believe.”
That’s not just something Flacco believes is unique to himself. It’s not something he believes just falls on the quarterback.
It wasn’t all on Flacco when the Browns ended the first seven possessions with six punts and his one interception. Nor was it all on him when they turned their final three possessions into a 35-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt, a touchdown run by Quinshon Judkins and, ultimately, the game-winning kick by Szmyt.
“Listen, things went our way this game down the stretch,” Flacco said. “And you could say that and that would be the end of the day. But there is more to it than that. The fact that we were able to stick with it and not, we didn’t have a bunch of guys bailing out and quitting on the team and throwing temper tantrums on the sideline.
“I’m sure guys felt like that. I’m sure there was those feelings in guys to want to do that, but we didn’t. And like I said, it may be easy to just say the ball bounced our way, but those things matter too. Being able to keep yourself together for moments like we got at the end of the football game, that matters.”
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joe Flacco fights through ‘onslaught of crap’ as Browns handle ‘inner battle’ vs. Packers
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
