One would think that the angriest fans in the league after Week 7’s Thursday Night Football game would be the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team lost to the underdog Cincinnati Bengals 33-31 on the back of a vintage Joe Flacco performance, just 10 days after he was traded to Cincy. But in fact, it might be Flacco’s old team’s fans, the Cleveland Browns, who are the most peeved.
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Flacco was unstoppable in throwing for 342 yards, three TDs, and no interceptions against Pittsburgh. The performance by far surpassed anything he did during his recent stint with the Browns, when he threw just four touchdowns and six interceptions in five games, going 1-4.
Clearly, Browns fans weren’t expecting Flacco to play so well, so soon, for their division rival Bengals after their team traded him for a late-round pick swap.
ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Rizzo, not known for his calm demeanor, was visibly irate on air Friday morning. He ranted for a full minute about how much of a “joke” he thought the Flacco trade was, especially after the quarterback’s jaw-dropping performance on TNF.
“How could you do that Andrew [Berry]? How could you do it! Why on earth did you feel the need to trade this guy to a division opponent for a fifth-round draft pick?” Rizzo asked.
“Fireable offense! That is a fireable offense! I wanna know how much longer the owner’s gonna watch this CRAP! Because the fans have had it! We deserve better! You just worried more about your stadium than you are your football team! That’s the perception Jimmy,” Rizzo added.
The “Jimmy” there is Cleveland owner Jimmy Haslam. But even after Rizzo went on about the owner, he was far from finished laying into Browns general manager Andrew Berry.
“And you allow these people to do this? You have the worst offense in the league? Your GM screwed this quarterback thing up like I’ve never seen! In my life I’ve never seen anything like it! Kids that play Madden could’ve done a better job! Truly! That’s not hyperbole… It’s a joke. It’s a joke. This franchise has become a joke. And I’m sick of it.”
This morning in Cleveland after Joe Flacco’s performance last night:
(via @ESPNCleveland)pic.twitter.com/NxunCIfpks
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 17, 2025
Fans were not buying what they called Rizzo’s “revisionist” history, though.
“This is such revisionist history. Browns fans were saying how much of a steal it was to get a 5th for Flacco, literally a week ago. You’re offense is just bad,” pointed out one fan.
“Cle got a 5th round pick for a 40-year-old QB and people are complaining like this?” chimed in another.
“This franchise has become a “joke.” Interesting choice of words… Has anyone ever actually thought it wasn’t a joke,” wrote a third.
“Reasonable crash out tbh,” one fan on the other side argued.
Whether it was a good trade or not remains to be seen. Supposedly, far-sighted individuals are already looking to next year, a common theme in recent sports discourse whenever a team faces the slightest hurdle, but those focused on 2025 in Cleveland are not happy.
At the end of the day, Flacco is a Bengal now, and he looked pretty darn good with the weapons Cincy had for him to work with. Ja’Marr Chase set a franchise record with 16 catches for 161 yards and a TD on the night, while Tee Higgins added 96 yards and a score as well.
With Joe Burrow expected to return by mid-December, a few more wins from Flacco could make it worthwhile for the franchise QB to suit up again in a season many had already written off.
