Netflix's Quarterback streaming series is live for its third season, and by all accounts, Cincinnati Bengals wily vet Joe Flacco is stealing the show.
The documentary is following the likes of Flacco, Cam Ward, Jayden Daniels, and Baker Mayfield. That's quite the cast of fellas. You get Flacco's quadragenarian perspective, Daniels trying to live up to the impossible hype of his rookie year, Ward navigating the pressures of being a No. 1 overall pick in his maiden pro campaign, and, well, you get Baker being Baker.
But the OG Joe Cool's hilarious candor has endeared himself to Who Dey Nation. His improbable transformation from division rival twice-removed to fan favorite is one of the more baffling plot twists in recent NFL history.
Now that elite, Pro Bowl QB2 Joe Flacco is back in Cincy for 2026, he can look back on last year's mixed bag of emotions with a chuckle.
Netflix 'Quarterback' series reveals how far Bengals QB Joe Flacco will go to take one for the team
With a hat tip to Essentially Sports' Keshav Pareek for the reporting and transcription, Flacco sounded off during the seventh episode of the new Quarterback season about taking a QB sneak in Week 18.
And by that I don't mean that he sounded "off", as in perturbed or put off. He just went no holds barred on the Truth-O-Meter. We love him for it:
"Brad (Kragthorpe), our quarterbacks coach, he asked Joe (Burrow), 'Hey, do you want to do a quarterback sneak here?' And I was on the sideline thinking, 'Man, if I was him, I'd say no way.' And of course, Joe said no. I had it in the back of my mind...they’re gonna ask me to do it, aren’t they? [...] You just have to do it...It’s what your role is right now. And don’t mess it up. Get the snap and get the first down."
Mind you, this was against the Cleveland Clowns, er, Browns, who Flacco started for in Week 1 before they gave way to first-year signal-callers Taylor Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. That triggered Flacco's unicorn of an AFC North trade from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Straight down I-71, baby.
How fitting and full circle that Flacco trotted out to convert that steely 3rd-and-1 sneak when all of Paycor Stadium knew it was coming.
Was it a meaningless game? Yes. Did it still fire up everyone? Also yes. But Flacco has the self-awareness to recognize how that could rub some the wrong way, as he told Netflix:
"It's kind of corny like that, you know, I'm getting cheered for a quarterback sneak...I'm like, 'No!' But I would hate me if I was watching that. I would be like, 'Look at this freaking guy. He's getting cheered for a freaking quarterback sneak. What a loser.' But whatever, it is what it is.
Taking my occasional podium time as the official Bengals fandom spokesperson for a sec.
Dearest Joe, you deserve all the cheers, all the flowers, and all the gen-you-wine salutes for all that you've done since landing in Cincinnati. Your run last season against the Steelers, Jets, and Bears, wherein the offense averaged 37.7 points per game, only to go 1-2, was downright legendary.
If not for Flacco's right sprained AC joint last year, he could've easily dragged the Bengals to a couple more wins. And if the defense could just get one measly stop against the Jets and Bears in those aforementioned devastating losses, we're talking playoffs all of a sudden. Screaming out with glee like we a bunch of Jim Moras.
Anyway. Great to see Flacco stay in a Bengals uniform. If our beloved Joe Burrow gets hurt (again), or for some reason needs an Anthony Richardson-esque tap-out situation (kidding), we know Flacco can hold the fort down and then some.
Oh, and if a QB sneak is necessary, call Flacco's number. Why not? He'll do it!
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