Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers combined for 591 passing yards and seven touchdowns in primetime showdown
The two old(er) guys with the gray beards put on a show on Thursday Night Football. Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers made it look easy at times. And their play was so good, they’ve sparked a rage of envy around the NFL on Friday.
These two veteran quarterbacks – Rodgers is 41 years old and Flacco is 40 – did amazing things.
Flacco And Rodgers Put On Show
They combined for 591 passing yards, seven touchdown passes and two fourth-quarter quarterback comeback drives, including the game-winner by Flacco.
And what makes that really amazing is that these two are 81 years old combined.
So, not only was this great show, it was a statement. It was a statement the Steelers did well to wait on Rodgers in the offseason when pundits and others were saying they should move on. It was a statement the Bengals gave themselves life by trading for Flacco 11 days ago when others expected them to merely accept the fate of not having Joe Burrow.
But there are also questions making the rounds among NFL fan bases who witnessed the performances by the two quarterbacks.
The questions?
Fans Asking Fair Questions
“Why can’t our guy do that?”
Why didn’t we go get Rodgers or Flacco?”
The pointed questions are out there, on social media, on sports talk radio and podcasts around the country. And the questions are fair in markets like Miami and Cleveland, Minnesota, Las Vegas and New York.
Fans in Miami watched 40-year-old Flacco turn a read-option into a key 12-yard run from his own 10 yard line, and immediately questioned why Tua Tagovailoa doesn’t do that.
Same with that 70-yard Hail Mary Rodgers threw at the end.
No, he didn’t complete it. But it got there. And one would doubt Tagovailoa could get any of his heaves that far.
CINCINNATI, OHIO – OCTOBER 16: Joe Flacco #16 of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrates a touchdown during an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paycor Stadium on October 16, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Flacco Bad In Cleveland, Great In Cincy
This isn’t to pick on Tagovailoa. You don’t think Browns fans aren’t asking how Flacco could throw 5 TD passes without an interception in two games after arriving in Cincinnati mere days ago, but managed only 2 TDs against 6 interceptions in four games for the Browns.
So, Browns fans are asking, was it Flacco?
Or was it the coaching, and the team around him, and the play-calling and all things going wrong with the Browns this year and for decades?
There’s no NFL team that will typically admit it got it wrong in player acquisitions, especially within the same season the mistake was made. But that doesn’t stop fans.
Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) under center against the Las Vegas Raiders in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Vikings Seemed To Miss On Rodgers
And if you’re a fan of the Minnesota Vikings and you see Rodgers leading the NFL with 14 touchdown passes, you’re asking yourself why your team turned him down when he called coach Kevin O’Connell and expressed interest in playing for the Vikings.
The Vikings are currently relying on backup Carson Wentz as their starter. That’s because J.J. McCarthy has been missed in all but two starts and still isn’t 100 percent. Wentz hasn’t played poorly.
But neither Wentz nor McCarthy has been Aaron Rodgers good.
The Jets also made a choice to downgrade at quarterback from Rodgers. They asked him to fly across country in the offseason only to fire him – which he didn’t like.
So Rodgers has beaten both the Jets and the Vikings this season on something of a little revenge tour.
(Photo by Evan Bernstein/Getty Images)
Raiders Could Probably Use Rodgers
That decision looks bad now unless the plan all along was to just have the kind of winless season the Jets are currently forging.
If that was the plan, to be in place for a high draft pick next April, then the Jets made a brilliant move getting rid of a superior quarterback this year and replacing him with struggling Justin Fields.
Speaking of questionable QB decisions, you’ll recall the Raiders traded for Geno Smith in the offseason. Then they gave him a nice contract that averages $37.5 million per season. Rodgers is making $13.6 million this season.
HENDERSON, NEVADA – APRIL 07: Quarterback Geno Smith is introduced at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center on April 07, 2025 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Raiders Made Other Plans With Smith
The Raiders showed zero serious interest in Rodgers before trading for Smith, although defensive star Maxx Crosby floated the possibility on his podcast.
Well, the floated idea sank when Smith arrived. And now he’s got 7 TD passes and 9 interceptions.
And Raiders fans might be wondering, along with other fan bases, how their team doesn’t have a quarterback like one of the two guys who put on a show Thursday night.
