Old nemesis Flacco comes back to bite Steelers

INDIANAPOLIS – Joe Flacco first faced the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 29, 2008.

Sixteen years to the day later, Flacco once again found himself lined up behind center while facing the Black and Gold.

“It’s crazy, man, how many times I’ve played against them at this point,” Flacco said after coming off the bench to lead the Indianapolis Colts to a 27-24 win. “Ben – Big Ben – was in the house today, too. Saw him pregame. And I mean, Mike’s (Tomlin) over there. He’ll be over there forever. So, definitely a little bit of that familiarity seeing those jerseys across the way.”

It seems like it’s been forever since Flacco entered the league as a firstround pick and former Pitt quarterback (he ended up transferring to Delaware) in 2008. He, “Big Ben” Roethlisberger and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin likely will forever be linked as the faces of the rivalry between the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens of this era.

But Flacco is no longer the 23-year-old rookie. Now a 39-year-old veteran, Flacco replaced injured Colts starter Anthony Richardson and completed 16 of 26 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns in handing the Steelers (3-1) their first defeat of the season.

“Flacco has won a lot of games in this league,” Steelers veteran defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said. “He can dissect a defense. He puts the ball where it needs to go.”

A 13-year veteran himself, Heyward has faced Flacco more than any current Steelers player and probably as much as any active player in the league. Flacco has now walked off the field as a winner against the Steelers 12 times – he is 1011 against them as a starter during the regular season and 1-2 against them in the playoffs, in addition to Sunday’s victory when he played in relief.

“Veteran presence,” Colts coach Shane Steichen said. “Obviously, he’s played a lot of football. He went in there and operated pretty darn good. Threw two touchdowns, moved the offense up and down the field. Did a nice job for us, for sure.”

Flacco’s touchdown passes to Josh Downs and Andrew Ogletree were the 29th and 30th he’s thrown against the Steelers (counting the postseason) in his career. That’s the most of any active quarterback, and Flacco has beaten Tomlin- coached teams more than any other quarterback.

“He’s a veteran guy, makes quick and prudent decisions,” Tomlin said in explaining that he did not feel comfortable blitzing Flacco. “We’ve got experience competing against Joe Flacco.”

But never when Flacco was not the starter. And while Flacco is no longer the player he was during his heyday with Baltimore — he was MVP during the Ravens’ 2012 season Super Bowl win — he is enjoying a career resurgence. Unsigned and thought to be out of football by mid-November of last year, Flacco was the starter for the Cleveland Browns for five late-season games. He won four, helping them clinch a playoff spot and starting the postseason game.

But Cleveland let him go, so Flacco signed with the Colts to be Richardson’s backup. He made his Indianapolis debut when Richardson suffered a hip injury during the first quarter Sunday.

“He’s probably (mentally) more advanced (than Richardson) just with being (17) years in the league,” Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen said. “So you know he can see the field, he can see coverages and stuff, just different (levels of) experience with those two guys. Hats off to him — he executed when they needed him to.”

The Steelers spent the week of defensive preparation and game planning to face a young, raw but superbly athletic and fast-running Richardson. Then, in a matter of moments, they instead were going against an old, plodding-but-savvy pocket passer — even if he was a familiar face to the Steelers’ more veteran players.

“We had a plan, middle of the week. We talked about, ‘If something happens (to Richardson),’ just in case, we had a game plan,” Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said. “(Flacco) went out there, and they made plays.”