Could a scrap-heap Joe Flacco signing conjure a Nick Foles-esque Super Bowl run for the Cleveland Browns?
In a way, Joe Flacco’s improbable NFL resurrection — and the Cleveland Browns’ surging end to the 2023 regular season — began on a nondescript Thursday night last month, with a social media alert that nobody expected.
Late on Nov. 16 the “Cleveland Sports Fans” X account posted a grainy image from inside a commercial flight. It appeared to be your typical cattle-call photo from inside a plane, with passengers lined up in the aisle, inching along to find their seats. Standing in the back, an exceptionally tall man towered above everyone else, with a familiar empty-eyed, thousand-yard stare that was impossible for some NFL fans to miss.
It was clearly Joe Flacco.
The caption on the post read simply, “The Browns next starting QB is currently boarding a flight to Cleveland.”
If you traveled back in time, approximately one minute before that picture appeared on social media, there were two things we knew about a pair of entities that were on the verge of unexpectedly linking up: The Browns had lost Deshaun Watson for the season and now had a serious problem on their hands at quarterback, leaving a veteran roster in the hands of fifth-round rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson; and Flacco was most recently quarterbacking his living room couch, left behind by the league after spending the previous five years of his career as a marginally effective backup.
Now through the power of a cell phone camera, a sharp-eyed fan and social media, a late-season marriage was tipped off unexpectedly. And as one would have expected, the results were mixed in the Browns' fan base on social media.
So our choices are Flacco and RGIII? Girl, bye.
Elite.
30 INT’s incoming!
Pleaseeee be from 2017.
If you were a glass half-empty person, Flacco’s best days were long behind him, lost in a haze of “Is Joe Flacco Elite?” memes and underwhelming results with middling Baltimore Ravens teams that never quite recaptured their Super Bowl luster of the 2012 season. And if you were a glass-half full person, well, Flacco had 195 games of starting experience (including the postseason) and probably still had a cannon for an arm. Even with cement blocks for feet, he would certainly be far more advanced at reading NFL defenses than a late-round rookie. In mid-November, all jokes aside, it was worth a shot.
Nearly six weeks later, it’s proving to be worth much, much more.
Not only are the Browns surviving with Flacco, parts of the offense are thriving. In four games, he has 1,307 passing yards, along with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Those aren't exactly the cleanest numbers in terms of ball security, but certainly survivable for a Browns team that has a defense that can carry Flacco through his mistakes. But in that span, he’s unlocked wideout Amari Cooper and tight end David Njoku, who have 741 receiving yards and seven touchdowns between them in Flacco’s four starts.
That whole “Pleaseeee be from 2017” comment on social media? Well, this snapshot of Flacco might even go back further … maybe even to that 2012 season, when he caught fire during a postseason run for the Ravens that would set the stage for a contract extension that made Flacco the highest paid player in the NFL at that time. Could we see something even more wildly improbable for the Browns in this 2023 season? Could Flacco pull a Nick Foles from the Philadelphia Eagles 2017 season, leading Cleveland to a Super Bowl stage or win when nobody on Earth would have believed it?
Sure, it’s improbable. That Eagles team around Foles had an elite two-deep roster from nearly top to bottom. But in an NFL season where practically no top-tier team looks safe, getting a bye and home-field advantage in these playoffs could be an immense key to unlocking an unlikely run. And consider this: after Sunday’s 36-22 win over Houston — which gives Flacco a 3-1 record as a starter since signing — the Browns (10-5) suddenly have a narrow shot at the AFC’s No. 1 seed. It will take some help, of course. But given how the stars have been aligning during the latest three-game winning streak, achieving something seemingly impossible a month ago would be right in rhythm with a team that is getting hot at the perfect time.
First and foremost? The Browns are going to have to win their remaining two games — at home on Thursday night against the Jets (6-9) and then a road finale against the Cincinnati Bengals (8-7) on Jan. 7. That would give Cleveland a 12-5 record to close the regular season.
Next, the Browns would need the Baltimore Ravens to lose two of their final three. And make no mistake, it’s a bit of a gauntlet for the Ravens, with Monday’s road game against the current NFC No. 1 playoff seed, the San Francisco 49ers, and then a pair of home games against a Miami Dolphins team (11-4) that has Super Bowl aspirations and a Pittsburgh Steelers team (8-7) that beat the Ravens 17-10 on Oct. 8. If that happens and the Ravens finish with an identical 12-5 record, Cleveland holds the edge in tiebreakers, thanks to a 4-0 record against the AFC South this season (Baltimore went 3-1).
Finally, the Browns would need the Dolphins to only lose their season finale against the Buffalo Bills the rest of the way, and also need the Kansas City Chiefs (9-5) to drop at least one of their final three games, which are two homes games against the Las Vegas Raiders (6-8) and Bengals, and a road finale against the Los Angeles Chargers (5-10). That’s a seeming cakewalk for the Chiefs, given that all three of those teams have lost their starting quarterbacks for the season — but the Chiefs have also showcased some odd vulnerabilities.
Surely that’s asking for a lot of Christmas miracles. But 'tis the season, for the Browns and their 38-year-old quarterback who really shouldn’t even be here.
As Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said in his postgame victory speech on Sunday, “Hey fellas, the journey continues.” From one unexpected flight in November, unceremoniously announced on social media, to a stage that is getting only bigger as the season gets smaller.
