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Joe Flacco feels Cleveland's love in Browns playoff-clinching win over Jets
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- Joe Flacco feels Cleveland's love in Browns playoff-clinching win over Jets
CLEVELAND — The game wasn't officially over when the chants started up inside Cleveland Browns Stadium.
"Flac-co! Flac-co! Flac-co!"
The Browns secured the most unlikely of playoff berths on Thursday night with a 37-20 win over the New York Jets . As that win was coming to an end, the 67,919 in the stands were serenading the most unlikely of Browns heroes.
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Quarterback Joe Flacco couldn't help but acknowledge he heard them. In a stadium where he had regularly ripped the hearts out of the home fans for most of his career — whether he was wearing the uniform of the Baltimore Ravens or, as he did a year ago , the Jets — he was being hailed as the conquering hero.
"It's cool," Flacco acknowledged after the game. "I mean, just put yourself in that position. I mean, you can't deny it. I said it from the very beginning. I mean, the city has been unbelievable. My teammates have been unbelievable in terms of just embracing me onto this football team. So it's all been great and it makes it that much more special to be able to come in here and play some good football."
To call what Flacco has essentially played since becoming the Browns starter five weeks ago "good football" would be the definition of selling short. You could actually call it, dare one say, "elite" football.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco (15) reacts after throwing a pass for a touchdown during an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Kirk Irwin)
Flacco finished Thursday night's game completing 19 of 29 passes for 309 yards, which gave him four consecutive 300-yard passing performance, all of which ended in Browns wins. By halftime, his 296 passing yards were the fourth-best performance by a Browns quarterback all season, while he already had his third three-touchdown game.
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"The old man got some game, man," right tackle James Hudson III said. "He's got some game. He's a baller. That's just what he do. That's what he always did when he was in the league. Being a Super Bowl MVP and everything, that's just what he does."
Normally, though, it was against the Browns. Thursday night marked Flacco's 12th win inside the stadium, but only the last three of those wins have come for the Browns.
This time, it was one of Flacco's former teams he was tormenting while wearing the Browns uniform. The Jets had let him walk after having him for the better part of the previous three seasons, including 12 appearances and nine starts.
They didn't call Flacco after quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down with an Achilles injury in the season opener, electing to stick with the likes of Zach Wilson , Tim Boyle and Thursday's starter, Trevor Siemian . Instead, it was the Browns who eventually signed him on Nov. 20 to the practice squad, made him the starter on Dec. 3 and, on Thursday night, rode his arm into the third playoff berth since the franchise returned to the NFL in 1999.
"I think at that point they had already dealt with a pretty good amount this year and they had gotten through it," Flacco said. "So that builds that kind of character and that energy around those guys. So it's a special group of football players in there and I think they've been holding their heads up high the whole time."
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When the game was over, Flacco, still in his uniform pants, was escorted out of the locker room to make an appearance on a postgame show. As he walked, he did so with four little shadows following him in Browns jerseys with the No. 15 and "Flacco" across the back.
Since the Browns had signed Flacco, essentially off of his couch, there had been a lot of time spent apart from his wife and kids. Now, on a night when the stadium was chanting his name, he was able to end the night with his family with him again.
"I mean, you don't know how many of these moments you're going to get," Flacco said. "Not too many people get the opportunity to have kids as old as mine and that understand what's going on, get to witness this. And I think it's cool for them, but ultimately it's really cool for me. I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life. And anything that you get to do with people that you love, especially your children, they just make everything that much more special."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joe Flacco feels city's love in Browns' playoff-clincher against Jets
