CINCINNATI — Ten days ago, Joe Flacco didn't know whether he'd get to experience again what he felt Thursday night.
Last week, Flacco was a quarterback who had been benched in his 18th NFL season. On Thursday night, he celebrated another comeback win in the AFC North.
Nine days after his trade to the Cincinnati Bengals, he led his new club to a 33-31 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paycor Stadium. Needing points on the final drive to win, Flacco propelled the offense down the field, with kicker Evan McPherson's 36-yard field goal with seven seconds left sealing the victory.
Flacco acknowledged the uncertainty he had felt about getting back to the position he was in Thursday night.
«It felt like I might not, to be honest with you,» Flacco said. «It's pretty special.»
In the second game following his trade from the Cleveland Browns, the 40-year-old helped Cincinnati snap a four-game losing streak. He was 31-of-47 passing for 342 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the first win for the Bengals (3-4) since starting quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury in Week 2.
Burrow watched from the sideline with a walking boot on his left foot as Flacco made plays in the closing minutes to prevent Cincinnati from a devastating collapse. The Bengals trailed by a point after leading for the bulk of the contest when Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers with 2:21 left.
But in his 23rd regular-season game against the Steelers (4-2), Flacco delivered. With Cincinnati on the cusp of field goal range, he hit wide receiver Tee Higgins for a 28-yard completion down the left sideline that made McPherson's kick a relatively easy one.
McPherson is among those who
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