The Cincinnati Bengals were non-committal to Jake Browning following Sunday’s 37-24 loss to the Detroit Lions, and they acted on their concerns by trading for Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday afternoon.
Is the 40-year-old capable of pulling this log out of the fire? Only time will tell. He is certainly an upgrade at the most important position on the field. Here’s a look at just how broken Cincinnati was during the Browning starts (Weeks 3-5) and the hope that Flacco provides.
Eye-Popping Metrics Under Jake Browning
Joe Burrow was injured in Week 2 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and while Browning threw three interceptions, he kept the train on the tracks and got the Bengals the win. He did enough in the emergency setting, but once he was announced as the weekly starter, opposing defenses had no problem with this offense.
He started in Weeks 3-5, and even with a productive fourth quarter over the weekend against the Lions, with the game well in hand, the statistics tell you all you need to know.
Over that stretch, Cincinnati had the ball for 113 snaps after the first quarter, and they trailed by at least four points for each and every one of them.
No exceptions.
The other 31 teams in Weeks 3-5 saw 57.5% of their offensive snaps come when trailing by no more than three points, and the Bengals couldn’t muster a single such snap.
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That’s as jarring as it sounds, but the numbers don’t stop there. In those three games, Cincinnati averaged 4.3 yards per play, down from their 5.8-yard average a season ago, and saw 15.2% of their dropbacks result in a sack or interception (NFL average: 8.7%, 2024 Bengals: 8.8%).
Their total number of red zone trips in three games barely topped their per-game average from a season ago, fueling Cincinnati to allow more points per game (37.7) than they scored in total (37, 21 of which came in the final five minutes of Week 5). Subsequently, the Bengals rank 31st in PFSN’s Offense Impact metric.
Is Joe Flacco the answer?
This is a Schrödinger’s QB situation where we don’t know if this offense is dead or alive until we open up the film room and see it in action, but there’s at least some hope.
For my fantasy managers out there, your Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins teams have newfound life. Between the two of them, they are averaging 14.4 targets per game this season. That number should tick up if Cincinnati can sustain drives with any sort of consistency.
If that’s the case…
Since 2020, when a player sees …
10+ targets from Flacco: 19.2 PPR PPG
>> Currrently WR6
9+ targets from Flacco: 17.0 PPR PPG
>> Currrently WR11
8+ targets from Flacco: 16.3 PPR PPG
>> Currrently WR11
7+targets from Flacco: 15.6 PPR PPG
>> Currrently WR13 https://t.co/MxVndvbR0L— Kyle Soppe (@KyleSoppePFN) October 7, 2025
From a team point of view, the second-place Bengals should improve across the board. The rested Green Bay Packers this weekend were always going to be a tough mountain to scale, but after this, they get both Pittsburgh Steelers games, along with home contests against the New York Jets and Chicago Bears.
Could this level of competency have Cincinnati flirting with a .500 record as we approach Thanksgiving? The AFC North is wide open at this point, and don’t forget, Burrow’s season hasn’t been declared over.
Could this team steady the ship and get their MVP candidate QB back for the final four games, where four wins could get them into the postseason?
I’m not saying it’s likely, but the odds of it happening are better now than when Week 5 concluded.
