Why Steelers vs Bengals Will Be Extra Spicy in Wake of the Joe Flacco Trade | The Rich Eisen Show

Yesterday, Cam Hayward gave us a a different official name for the match of the two 40ome year old quarterbacks. Oldest quarterbacks playing this week. Let’s go. [Applause] Icy Hot Bowl. I love it. Icy Hot. As a big proponent of icy hot from my youth baseball playing days when sometimes you didn’t put the icy hot on your arm. Let’s be honest, on the bench. Icy Hot Bowl. I love it. But also, even now, I got an ache. Not to turn this into an icy hot ad here, but I I I’m a fan. Ice up, son. And when you got two 40-year-old quarterbacks going at it on a short week in Cincinnati, the first time, by the way, that two 40some year old quarterbacks have squared off since 2020. It’s only happened three times in NFL history. It’s got to be Brady and Breeze, right? All three times, Drew Brees and Tom Brady. the only other times uh that this has happened in NFL history. Aaron Rogers also spoke on he was asked about the novelty of that type of a matchup. I think it’s great uh great for all the old guys. You know, I know that when I watch other sports, maybe it’s cuz I’m the older guy, but I I tend to to pull for the older guys to to win to win championships. I’m I’ve been friends with Steph for a long time. Steph is one of the older guys in the NBA now, so anytime the Warriors are playing, I’m always pulling for for Steph to ball out for them for them to win. But, uh, it’s great. I mean, I’ve known Joe for a long time. Uh, he’s been great coming to my charity event. Uh, he’s been a great ambassador for the league. He’s had a great career, and it’s fun that we’re both still playing. A very nice way for Aaron Rogers to say, “I’m three and0 all time against Joe Flacco.” I think I think in this moment, I’ve got this thing. It it it’s a pivotal moment in the season if you’re the Bengals tomorrow night. It is it has the feeling of if you are going to make a run and get back in this, you got to win this game. Short weeks are weird. Thursday night games are weird. Yep. But on your home though, a lot of points on these Thursday night games this year. There have been. But I think that’s part of the the uniqueness of it that the game planning process is a little bit different. There’s different things in terms of injuries, too. whether or not you’re holding out guys who were injured on Sunday or if they were injured the previous week you held them out on Sunday and they’ve basically got a 10 11 day window uh to get back for the games. There’s a lot of different factors in this. Everybody’s got different theories in terms of how you handle uh the short week games. But for a Bengals team that’s lost four in a row and they played better and better through the course of that game in Green Bay. If you watch Joe Flacco, he had he had two days of work with Jamar Chase, not even three cuz Jamar Chase was sick and didn’t and didn’t practice on Friday. He had basically no reps with his best receiver, but when you needed him to make a play down the stretch and it’s maybe the catch of the year by Jamar Chase in traffic by the pylon, but Joe Flacco puts that ball on him and then that’s a tough route if you haven’t had the time on task uh with that wide receiver. If you’re going to make a run, it’s a lot easier to do it. Still hard, but a lot easier to do it at three and four by, by the way, knocking down the number one team in the division to four and two. heck of a lot easier than falling to two and five and then being in a spot where it’s like you got to win nine or 10 of your remaining 10 games to have a shot at least eight to even have a chance the the rest of the upcoming schedule especially to the buy the Jets they’re winless that’s a home game you got the the Bears who have played better obviously Caleb Williams had the most controlled game that he’s had in his career on Monday night against Washington then you got the buy to to heal up you get Another crack at the Steelers. It It does get more difficult as you’re looking at it after the buy, but you still got Baltimore twice on your schedule. And to the extent the Ravens have to claw back into it, they’re one and five. You split those games, you’ve done yourself a service, you lose a fifth straight game. And the questions going into Jets week around the team are probably not going to be so much about how did the Bengals get back into the playoff race. It’s should they be selling at the trade deadline, which by the way hits during their buy. It’s right after that game against the Bears. That Tuesday is the trade deadline. It feels momentous. It also feels like the culmination of a story line I don’t feel like we’ve given enough time to over the past couple of days because the quote came out on Monday while we were on. We briefly reacted to it on the show. But there is not one thing in the NFL that more people have called me about, more than the why the Titans fired Brian Callahan after six games, more than what’s going on in the trade market. I’ve gotten more questions about what Mike Tomlin had to say when he was asked about the Browns trading Joe Flacco in the division to the Bengals. You know, to be honest, it was shocking to me. Um, Andrew Barry must be a lot smarter than me or us. um because it doesn’t make sense to me um to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening day starter uh to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area. Um but that’s just my personal feelings. From Cincinnati’s perspective, did it make sense for them? It certainly made sense from Cincinnati’s perspective. I’ve covered the NFL since 2003. That quote does get funnier every time I hear it. and the smile on his face when he’s asked the poll like, “Yeah, made sense for them.” Yeah. Yeah. Why would what do I I I’ve covered the NFL for over 20 years. And it’s possible I’m forgetting something, but I do not remember whether it’s joking or not, whether it’s serious or not, and I’ll get to that momentarily. I don’t remember a head coach mentioning by name an opposing general manager in critiquing a trade that did not directly involve you ever. It does not happen. And it has created a ripple effect through the course of this week. And again, the media availability is different on a Thursday night game, too. Guys aren’t around. The locker room’s not open as often. There’s not as many press conferences. Kevin Stfansky, the Browns coach, was asked about it, said, “In short, I have no comment on that.” Bengals coach Zack Taylor also came up in his press. Tomlin spoke today about being surprised that the Browns would trade Joe Flacco to you. He said, he said, “You know, it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area.” Were you surprised that a team in division was willing to help you? So, I was happy. I was happy. That’s That’s my only comment. I love that as Zach is hearing that question unwind and whether he knew about the quote or not. I’m guessing he did, but he’s almost trying to hold back laughter by the end of it and you can see him kind of biting his lip about Yeah, you’re happy. Now, again, we’ll see what it means. They could get blown out by the Steelers on Thursday night. But at a time that Jake Browning, who you would counted on to be able to fill in if Joe Burrow were out, is turning the ball over at an unbelievable rate, this gave you a glimmer of hope. There’s only one position at which you can make a sea change, and that is quarterback. The one spot where you can go, we brought this guy in, now everything’s got a chance to be different. Whether that’s real or not, there’s a more than a placebo effect. If Joe Flacco finds it, if he gets on track with one of the best receiver duos in the entire NFL, they’ve got some hope. Joe Flacco, not surprisingly, also was asked about Tomlin’s comment. Uh, I don’t know. I didn’t see it. Uh, I didn’t see I didn’t get to see how upset he was. Uh, but, you know, I I think he’s probably just playing the game a little bit and, you know, doing whatever he has to do. Here’s what I would say in exploring the dynamics, let’s put it that way, of this comment over the past couple of days. I do not believe, and I’ll let Mike Tomlin, if he ever wants to, speak for himself on this subject, but I do not believe that was Mike Tomlin playing the game. Every week the Steelers, Tomlin has his press conference normally on Tuesdays and he will go through talking about how great every player on the opponent is, the challenge they present. And if you were facing the 0 and6 Jets this week, he would talk about, man, Justin Fields is a problem. We had him here. He would talk about some of the players they got on defense. Quinnon Williams and S Gardner. he was going to say positive things uh regardless of any opponent. But I believe we got a very honest remark right there from Mike Tomlin because if you’re watching the tape of Joe Flacco and the way that he has played under tough circumstances in Cleveland and under different but also tough circumstances last week playing with guys he was acquired five days before that game in Green Bay and while they lost to the Packers, they were functional as an offense. Oh yeah, Joe had some type of a foundation in it. He was winging it. Uh Jamar Chase, by the way, real quick, uh also had a a very brief comment on his feelings about the Mike Tomlin comment. What did you think when you saw it? I kept scrolling. I think that that should be the new like I’m just off. We need the clip off. I just kept scrolling. Which by the way, that’s a good that’s a good life policy. Yep. Absolutely. In a lot of of different areas here keeps growing. But I believe that was Mike Tomlin’s honest remark, which was if you watch the tape and you watch where Cincinnati was and you’re trying to figure out why would you help a division opponent, I understand why you would be taken aback by it. Now, it’s none of his business. It’s none of the Steelers business. The Browns and Bengals can make whatever trades they want. But I believe that that’s really how Mike Tomlin felt. Why? If you thought Andrew Barry or any other GM made a terrible, illogical trade, you would call that out publicly rather than going, “They’re in the division. I want to keep somebody who’s making bad trades in the division.” That’s a separate type of a conversation. Andrew Barry’s a very smart guy. Okay. The Browns have had an up and down run throughout the course of his tenure. An up and down run since football returned to Cleveland in the late 90s. If you unpack why the Browns did make that trade, I’ve heard and I’ve had people propose various conspiracy theories to me over the past couple of days. The most compelling one, I don’t believe it’s true. The most compelling one was the Browns who have put everything into 2026, going back to the Travis Hunter trade, trading down, getting Jacksonville’s first round pick next year, getting an upgrade of a pick in the Tyson Campbell trade, sending Greg Newsome was a better player. Why do you do that for? Well, because you get a costcontrolled player and a higher pick, right, by bringing in Tyson Campbell. And then to the Flaco trade, uh the best conspiracy theory I heard was, well, they may have been getting nervous that the Bengals would be so bad they wouldn’t get to play a last place schedule next year, so they had to make sure they helped them to ensure the Browns finish line. I don’t actually believe I don’t know, man. That’s a pretty good one. I believe that’s the Could be the outcome. That’s some 4D chess right there. The the intent it would be 3D chess. Absolutely. The intent, I think, is much more straightforward, which is Joe Flacco is no longer the starter. They would have loved to win more games. They would have loved if they don’t miss a field goal in week one to cost him a game that could have gotten him off on a better foot. When they played the Bengals to the wire with Joe Flacco at quarterback once they benched Joe Flacco soon because of where the season was, because Flacco struggled in Detroit, Joe Flacco is never playing again. Ownership. Jimmy Hasslam said back in training camp, we absolutely need to see the rookie quarterbacks because when you got two first in 2026, you’re going to be able to potentially go and get whatever quarterback you want in the draft. You got to know if these guys can play. And once Dylan Gabriel has an opportunity, he’s played two games. They did not look particularly good last week, but it’s also a rookie quarterback with all kinds of moving parts on his offensive line. No true number one wide receiver. They’re going to give Dylan Gabriel some time. You also at some point need to see Shadur Sanders and elevating the guy who’s been the emergency third and not even technically active on game day to the starting role would also be unusual. So you clear the decks of Joe Flacco. He wasn’t going to be around, you know, probably for the long haul if he wasn’t playing anyway. Certainly wasn’t going to be coming back. You offload about $2 million in salary and you upgrade from a sixth to a fifth round pick. That that’s really it. If you want to just baseline logic, the ideas of trading within the division have changed over time. We’ve seen far more anecdotally speaking in division trades over the last what’s called five years than I can ever remember seeing before because GMs go, “Okay, yeah, we got to face the guy twice a year. It it impacts us kind of in a in a passive way in terms of division standings. But if we feel like we’re getting value, why do I care?” The Vikings and Lions made multiple trades. The Vikings sent the pick for Jameson Williams to Detroit and then they also acquired TJ Hawinson from the Lions because Brad Holmes and Quad Men are both like whatever it’s a trade. We feel like there’s a good trade for everybody. We’re just going to make a good trade. But the fact that you had Mike Tomlin come out and mention Andrew Barry by name. This is not the last we have heard of this. This is certainly not all you’re going to hear about this in terms of the broadcast tomorrow night. I am sure that Al Michaels has that exact quote clipped off and written in big letters on his sheet. It will come up a few times with him and Kirk. Never say never, but never. Apparently, once in a while, the Browns and Bengals do indeed make a trade. Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.

Rich Eisen Show guest host Tom Pelissero previews Steelers vs Bengals in Week 7 and explains why there will be some extra spice added to their AFC North rivalry after Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin bashed the Browns for trading Joe Flacco in-division to Cincinnati.

Tune in to the Emmy-nominated Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from Noon to 3PM ET on Disney+, ESPN+, ESPN Radio, and streaming on SiriusXM channel 80.

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29 comments

  9. Calling Andrew Berry a smart guy when he was the one who made the trade for Deshaun Watson, and now does this, not even saying he was the one who traded Baker away, is rich, hahaha. He will be remembered as the guy who buried the Browns in the 2020's

  12. Tomlin merely said what everone with a brain already thought. And he was right. The Browns were INSANE to throw us a potential lifeline for virtually nothing in return.

  15. Never felt bad for Ryan Shazier and I hope Crying Bengals lady never felt bad for him. He caused the critical fumble in that infamous wild card game by leading with his head. He also knocked out Giovani Bernard by leading with the crown of his helmet and he celebrated injuring another player. He was a great player with dirty tactics just like most of the great Steelers players. The NFL had to ban leading with the head because of his dirty tactics. But Squaeler fans expect you to be sad for their players and justify Juju injuring Vontaze Burfict. I dislike Troy Polamalu too, dirty player, fake nice guy.

  17. I don’t understand why people don’t get Tomlin’s assessment of the Flacco trade. It’s less about Flacco and more about unnecessarily helping out your divisional opponent. Everyone keeps arguing, “the Browns turned Flacco into a 5th round pick when they could’ve gotten nothing” but that isn’t totally accurate. They swapped a 6th round pick + Flacco for that 5th. Assuming the Browns keep Browning, their original 6th will be early in that round, and assuming Flacco helps the Bengals win a few more games, that 5th round pick will be later in that round. Meaning they only advanced up maybe 15-20 slots in the draft…in the late 5th round…is that worth helping out a divisional opponent?

    Maybe the Browns are just tanking so competition this year doesn’t matter to them, but that’s never how the Steelers approach things. They always want to compete for the division even if they aren’t very good.

  24. Flaco will throw for 200 yards but will not reach 20 points. They play 3 times there would be a game where he throws 3 long passes that turn into TD with only a long like a punt interception beyond the 50 is possible. The people who take the points and Bengles fine, but saying they can win is about 25% and if they lose, they probably will not cover. Rodgers actually looks good against a weak Bengals defense and should score 25+ points. Burrow scored 17, 3, 10 points this season, they played good teams but are giving up close to 30 points a game.
    The Browns want Gabriel have a few games before playing the Dolphins and Jets, and that will be the test, he wins those games he will get more starts. They have a schedule where he could go 5-2 the next 7 games and you never see Sanders till the last game, he goes 1-4, Sanders probably starts the last 5 or 6 games. If they end up drafting top 3 with 3 wins, Sanders will get a better trial than most 5th round picks would get. The narrative is they are not a good team and the coach got fired, the same is true for Gabriel, Snaders can't go 0-somtheing with a rating under 80 or he will get no more additional starts than Gabriel. The games they start this year are probably be both guys' best chance to show they have NFL potential, more than anything they did in college or their interviews or personalities, you average 16 points a game, 195 yards passing, and an 82 rating, you are just a guy not drafted in the first 40 picks. Winning, scoring, and passing yards are what will get attention, either has that Russel Wilson game with the Giants, they will get additional starts someplace and that is with only 1 good start.

  28. Don’t remember when, but this show discussing the Flacco trade and the TNF game and how they wouldn’t be surprised if Cincinnati won convinced me to take the Bengals in my pick ‘em. Thank you crew!

  29. Tomlin thought the football gods landed in his lap. It was all working out no Burrow or Lamar take advantage with the North get a playoff win at least for Rodgers, everyone's happy. Browns flip them the bird give Flacco away to the best receiving corps he has ever had lmao and he starts rainbowing again like it's a 2012 play off run. LMAO, I bet he can't wait to play the Ravens.

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