CINCINNATI -- If Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco was feeling any pain, either physical or emotional, following a stunning loss to the Chicago Bears, it was impossible to tell.
Seated at the table in the team's news conference, Flacco didn't wince after the 47-42 loss. Flacco, 40, played 68 offensive snaps with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder that limited his practice availability in the week leading up to the game.
That's what made his performance last weekend even more impressive. He finished with a career-high 470 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions (though one was a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the game). He became the first 40-year-old in NFL history to have more than 450 passing yards and four touchdowns in a game, according to ESPN Research.
"Flacco, he could barely lift his arm this week, and he's willing to go put himself out there for a bunch of teammates he's known for three weeks," coach Zac Taylor said after the game. "He's a football player -- that's what he got up here and said [earlier in the week]: 'I play football for a living. That's what I do.'"
In Flacco's mind, there was never a question about whether he was going to miss the game with the shoulder injury he suffered a week earlier in a 39-38 loss to the New York Jets, one of his six former clubs. Flacco only practiced on Thursday and said he wasn't "throwing without a little help" when it came to dealing with the injury. He struggled with short, checkdown throws against the Bears.
But when the Bengals needed it, there was no hint of an issue. He was 31-of-47 passing on the day. He threw two touchdown passes in the span of 49 seconds and also tossed the 2-point conversion that gave Cincinnati a 42-41 lead with :54 remaining.
"Flacco fought like a warrior with the way his shoulder was," said Bengals running back Chase Brown. "Things weren't perfect but we made things work on our end."
Flacco's performance was ultimately in vain. The Bengals (3-6) lost their second straight game and are now staring at the brink of another lost season. But Flacco's injection into the offense is the primary reason Cincinnati carries any hope into its bye week.
Flacco is the team's third starting quarterback this season. The Bengals traded a sixth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Flacco, who threw six interceptions in four games with Cleveland before being benched.
The Bengals brought him in to replace Jake Browning, who was starting in place of injured star Joe Burrow after Burrow suffered a turf toe injury in Week 2. After arriving in Cincinnati on Oct. 7, Flacco started on the road against the Green Bay Packers just four days later. While that was a loss, he steered the Bengals to a much-needed win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 16.
Over the past four games, Flacco has been one of the NFL's most effective quarterbacks. He ranks seventh in Total QBR during that span and has thrown a league-high 11 touchdowns. Four of those were against Chicago while dealing with an injury that has been known to sideline quarterbacks for extended periods of time.
In 2023, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. sprained the AC joint in his throwing shoulder in Week 5 and missed the rest of the season following surgery to repair the issue. The way Flacco described dealing with frustration could also be applied to why he was on the field against the Bears.
"This is our profession," Flacco said after the game. "We do this for a living and we take pride in doing it. I hope that you would continue to take pride in doing what you do for a living, no matter what the outcome is. And yeah, maybe that's easier said than done, but that's what you've got to do because this league will eat you up and it will not be good."
On Monday, Flacco was sent home to New Jersey to get rest and spend time with his wife, Dana, and their five children. He missed Tuesday's practice before players were dismissed for the bye week.
The debate about Flacco's standing as an elite quarterback has made for online fodder over the years. But in a nearly two-decade career that includes a Super Bowl MVP honor and a Comeback Player of the Year award, Flacco arguably had the most impressive performance of his career Sunday.
If he plays against the Steelers on Nov. 16, that will mark his 200th start of his career, excluding playoff games.
And he's not thinking about the idea of being too banged up to miss it.
"I finished the game last week," Flacco said of the contest. "I played this week. I mean, it's not even in my mind that I wouldn't be able to do something like that."