Joe Flacco gave the Bengals reason for hope after the Browns trade

Joe Flacco didn’t get a win in his Bengals debut, but the veteran quarterback and Cincinnati’s offense showed some fight in the second half of a 27-18 loss to the Packers.

Flacco was acquired by the Bengals just earlier in the week in A.J Surprise trade with Brown – Division rival – Brought the 40-year-old quarterback to Cincinnati and put him in line to help stun the Packers for the second time this season.

Flacco helped the Browns beat the Packers 13-10 two weeks ago, and had he won on Sunday, it would have made him only the second quarterback to beat the same team twice in one season with two different teams.

The Bengals QB hasn’t quite lived up to history, but in his first game with the franchise, he managed to put up 219 yards on 29 completions along with two touchdown passes in his debut.

“We came out and played a good second half,” Flacco said of his first start. “Normally, against a good football team, playing well in one half wouldn’t be good enough, but we gave ourselves a chance at the end and I think we did some good things. But not enough early.”

Things didn’t start out exactly as planned for the Bengals, as Flacco and the offense had just 65 yards going before halftime.

But the offense started to come alive in the second half when they marched down the field 78 yards and Flacco scored his first touchdown pass as a Bengal with a short two-yard toss to Tanner Hudson.

The second touchdown pass of the fourth quarter came with just over four minutes left in the game.

Flacco connected with Ja’Marr Chase on a great catch to the Cincinnati receiver, leading to a 19-yard touchdown pass.

The touchdown and a successful two-point conversion attempt made it a 24-18 game.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Bengals, but Flacco gave some reasons for optimism that the team can turn things around.

“Listen, this is a long season and I know it’s easy to get down on yourself in tough times, but playing with confidence shows. We have to find a way to get some of that back, but I think we have the ability to do that.”

The Bengals turned to Flacco in hopes they could solidify their position at QB while Joe Burrow is out with a Grade 3 turf toe injury.