Steelers coach Mike Tomlin surprised many by publicly questioning the decision of Browns G.M. Andrew Berry to trade quarterback Joe Flacco within the division. Regardless, Tomlin had his reasons.
One, as Myles Simmons suggested on Thursday’s PFT Live, could be that Tomlin was hoping to throw a bone to Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who seemed to be caught off guard by the Flacco trade — and who may eventually be looking for a coordinator job at some point. (Tomlin’s current offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, could end up getting another head-coaching job, as soon as next year.)
Or maybe Tomlin simply would have preferred to face Jake Browning, not Flacco, on Thursday night in Cincinnati.
The Week 7 contest will be the 26th time Flacco has played against Tomlin’s Steelers. That includes 25 starts and last year’s Week 4 game, during which Flacco replaced Colts starter Anthony Richardson and handed Pittsburgh its first loss of the season. (Tomlin recently said he told his players to “[k]eep Richardson upright” so that they wouldn’t have to face Flacco.)
Including last year’s game, Flacco is 11-11 against Tomlin in the regular season. Tomlin has the edge in the postseason, 2-1.
With six upsets in the last seven NFL prime-time games, and given that Tomlin has never won a short-week road game, who knows? Maybe Flacco will forge a 13-13 all-time tie with Tomlin tonight.
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