Joe Flacco lit up the box score in his second-ever start for the Cincinnati Bengals. The 40-year-old quarterback completed 31 of 47 passes for 342 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 33-31 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football last season.

The win kept the Bengals’ season alive. What we didn’t know until now is just how much Flacco struggled to understand the play calls coming through his headset.

Netflix’s “Quarterback” documentary series just pulled back the curtain on how chaotic it truly was. 

Joe Flacco was truly flying blind against Pittsburgh

Thanks to Netflix recording Flacco throughout the whole game, we now know the full context of just how far in over his head Flacco was during that game. He had been Cincinnati’s quarterback for a little over a week at that point, acquired in a desperate trade after Joe Burrow’s turf toe injury was feared to be season-ending.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was sending play calls into Flacco’s headset, and Flacco admitted he had no idea what Taylor was saying at times.

“I’m calling formations for the first time,” Flacco said in Episode 4 of the new season.

Flacco specifically recalled the word “whiff” as something he did not understand from Taylor. The problem? “Whiff” was the beginning of the play call. The QB and coach weren’t even on the same page, and yet Flacco had already thrown a touchdown in the game when he admitted to Jake Browning and Burrow he couldn’t decipher what the play-caller wanted to call.

Flacco’s veteran mindset saved him and the Bengals

It’s frankly absurd that this was the situation Cincinnati was dealt with its season on the line in the middle of October.

Despite the communication breakdowns, Flacco leaned into pure instinct.

“I think the best thing you can do is not blink in those moments,” Flacco said. “Once the ball snaps, you got to go play football.”

The Bengals offense started rolling after the middle of the second quarter, and Flacco embraced the chaos every time he reached the sideline.

Cincinnati won on a game-winning field goal, with Flacco orchestrating one final productive drive to set it up.

“It wasn’t how you drew it up, but we made it work anyway,” Flacco said.

Awareness and honesty lead to another opportunity 

That was the only victory Flacco achieved as Cincy’s starter. He didn’t panic. He leaned on his new teammates and the instincts of playing nearly 20 years of NFL football.

It led to one of the best offensive performances the Bengals had all year.

I think the best part of the documentary’s reveal is how self-aware Flacco was about the whole thing. At 40 years old, he had no interest in letting embarrassment slow him down.

“If I was younger, I’d feel like an idiot,” Flacco said. “But like, whatever, who cares, just (expletive) it,”

That’s the advantage of a veteran quarterback who has seen everything. Flacco returns as the Bengals’ backup with a full offseason of truly learning the verbiage of the offense he finds himself continuing to be a part of.

The gap between where he was during that Steelers game and where he should be heading into 2026 has to be enormous.

Cincinnati is in a much better place with Flacco as its insurance policy this time around.