Joe Flacco's strong second half in Cincinnati debut gives slumping Bengals reason for hope

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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Joe Flacco rallied the Cincinnati Bengals in the second half. That was enough to provide some hope for his new teammates.

Just five days after he was acquired in a trade with Cleveland, Flacco passed for 219 yards and two touchdowns in his Cincinnati debut. The Bengals lost 27-18 at Green Bay on Sunday, but they pushed the Packers all the way to the very end.

“He’s just so poised,” All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase said of Flacco.

Cincinnati (2-4) has been outscored 140-55 during a four-game losing streak. The slide started a week after Joe Burrow departed a 31-27 victory over Jacksonville on Sept. 14 with a toe injury.

After Jake Browning started at quarterback in the first three games in the current streak, the Bengals acquired the 40-year-old Flacco and a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Browns on Tuesday for a fifth-round selection.

There wasn't a noticeable difference for Cincinnati at first.

The Bengals trailed 10-0 after getting outgained 240-65 in the first half. It was the fourth straight game in which they failed to score a touchdown before halftime. Flacco was 8 of 15 for 40 yards at the break, and Cincinnati totaled one first down in its first four possessions.

“Usually playing a good football team, playing one good half isn’t going to be good enough,” Flacco said. “But we gave ourselves a chance down at the end, and we did some good things but just not enough.”

The breakthrough began on the opening possession of the second half.

Flacco orchestrated a 17-play, 78-yard touchdown drive lasting 10 minutes, 14 seconds. Flacco capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Hudson on fourth-and-goal.

That set the tone for the rest of Flacco's outing.

Flacco went 21 of 30 for 179 yards in the second half. The Bengals scored two touchdowns and a field goal on their first three second-half drives before their final possession ended with a missed field-goal attempt.

The veteran quarterback was at his best in the fourth quarter. With the Bengals trailing 24-10 and facing fourth-and-5, Flacco threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Chase in the right corner of the end zone. He then connected with Chase Brown on a 2-point conversion that made it 24-18 with 4:11 left.

“I certainly thought that he had a lot of confidence and got into a rhythm," Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “There are times when you get in those games where you are having to throw the ball there at the end to get back in it, it is not all stuff that is on the call sheet. We were having to ad-lib a little bit as you explore how they are playing our guys. You have to adjust as the game goes, and I thought he did an unbelievable job of handling that.”

Flacco faced Green Bay again just three weeks after helping the Browns beat the Packers 13-10. He became the eighth quarterback since at least 1950 to start against the same opponent twice in a season while playing for two different teams.

The only quarterback to win both games under those circumstances was Jack Kemp, who led the AFL’s Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers past the New York Titans in 1962.

Flacco couldn't quite join Kemp, but he did give the Bengals some reason for optimism as they prepare to host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.

“At the end of the day, Joe did good with communicating with the receivers and talking to the receivers about what we like, what we see,” Chase said.

Flacco is looking forward to playing alongside his new teammates again.

“They talk about learning how to win, good football teams know how to do that,” Flacco said. "That’s because they always believe that they can. Listen, I’ve only been here for a week, but I think these guys in the locker room got a good head on their shoulders, and I’m excited to get to work with them.”

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