Cincinnati acquired Joe Flacco from the Browns on Tuesday, and coach Zac Taylor immediately named him the starter. The 40-year-old replaces Browning after an 0-3 record in starts since replacing injured Joe Burrow in the second quarter of a Week 2 win against Jacksonville.
Flacco will face the Green Bay Packers (2-1-1) on the road Sunday for a second time this season, after earning his one win against them among his four starts for Cleveland.
“It was just a lot going on, but I, you know, am enjoying it,” Chase said when asked his thoughts about the move. “You know, I appreciate the organization trying to make this work. So got to make it work.”
“They (the front office) just see that, you know, we got a chance,” Chase added when asked further what the move says about the organization’s belief in the team. “Defense is doing a good enough job for us to help us out, our playmakers got to make plays in space. That’s what they see. That’s what they wanted to keep going. They just giving us opportunity to make more of those plays happen.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Bengals rank last in net offense and are 29th in passing yards (171.6) a year after Burrow led the league in that area, and just three teams have scored more than Cincinnati’s 17.0 points per game.
Chase, who won the receiving Triple Crown last year, is still on pace to top 1,000 yards receiving this season with 374 yards on 32 catches, but he’s well off his production in his previous two best seasons. He’s on track for 1,271 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Fellow wide receiver Tee Higgins is even further behind what he has been able to do in recent seasons without even playing all 17 games, currently on pace for just 537 yards and seven touchdowns over the course of a full schedule.
That’s partly why Higgins was excited to see the news on Twitter on Tuesday. The Bengals receivers are capable of more.
Higgins thought the trade was “crazy,” in a good way, and called Chase to see if he had heard. Chase didn’t initially believe it either. Shortly after they talked, Taylor called them both to let them know the plan.
“I feel like they were trying to get everyone going in the right direction regardless of what happened, whether we didn’t trade for Joe and kept Jake at quarterback, our expectation is to move forward regardless,” Higgins said. “Definitely want to get us going. (Quarterback) is a big part of the offense, and the defense is playing their butts off, so we just got to complement them and on special teams.”
Higgins said he has the “utmost confidence” in the offense because of the talent on the team that just needed utilized to the best of its ability. The Bengals are looking for a spark from Flacco, and so far, Higgins and Chase have been impressed with his arm and how he carries himself – though Chase said he gets the play calls out quicker than he was used to with Burrow and Browning.
Flacco brings 18 years of NFL experience, a lot of wins, confidence and knowledge of just about everything a defense could throw at Cincinnati’s offense, Chase said.
“He’s an older dude - he knows pretty much everything,” Chase said. “He’s seen every coverage. He knows what to adjust to, and that’s the biggest thing about a veteran quarterback. He knows ins and outs of the offense, he’s seen everything from a long time now and just come in, stepping up and making a big impact on his offense is what we need him to do.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Flacco spent time on the drive down Tuesday, in a car service provided by the Bengals, studying the offense with Taylor on the phone, and Higgins said he’s been spending some extra time with receivers outside of the regular practice time trying to get down timing and build chemistry.
Chase said the team isn’t asking Flacco to “do the unbearable.” He just needs to get the ball to the playmakers and let them handle the rest. Higgins doesn’t think that will be a problem.
“The guy can sling it, for sure,” Higgins said. “He’s picking up the offense really fast and it’s going to be great. Very excited. Especially with his ability, what he can do with the ball in his hands. I’m definitely looking forward to it and just looking forward to doing better with the offense and just get things going.”
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