If you told someone a month ago that Joe Flacco, at age 40, would make the Cincinnati Bengals forget about Joe Burrow’s absence, they’d have laughed. Before his arrival in Cincinnati, the veteran quarterback looked completely finished in Cleveland… six interceptions in four games, a league-worst 60.3 passer rating, and a benching for a rookie that felt like the final chapter of his career.
Advertisement
But then came the trade to Cincinnati. What looked like a desperation move for a Burrow-less Bengals team has somehow turned into one of the most surprising resurrections of the season.
Since arriving, Flacco has been unrecognizable, leading the Bengals’ offense with utmost precision and flair. In his last four games, he’s thrown 11 touchdowns, tied for the most in the league, while ranking 7th in Total QBR.
Flacco’s masterpiece came last Sunday vs the Bears, where his 470 yards and four touchdowns made him the first 40-year-old in NFL history to cross 450 passing yards and four scores in a single game.
Moreover, what made the performance even more impressive was the fact that Flacco played through a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder that limited his practice all week. “He could barely lift his arm… But he told us, ‘I play football for a living. That’s what I do,’” Bengals HC Zac Taylor later said.
So, on the latest Fitz & Whit episode, Ryan Fitzpatrick took notice and decided this kind of comeback deserved its own title. He called it the “Andy Dufresne Redemption Award,” named after the wrongfully imprisoned protagonist of The Shawshank Redemption who escaped against all odds.
“The Shawshank Redemption, one of the best movies of all time… This is going to go to a player who’s outlasted all the doubters… crafted an escape from a team many would categorize as a prison this year… found the light at the end of the tunnel,” Fitzpatrick said, before throwing the punchline: “The winner… Joe Flacco.”
The ex-NFL QB then explained why Flacco should be the one to win it.
“He escaped from prison this year,” the analyst laughed, as he compared Flacco’s move from the Browns to the Bengals to Andy tunneling out of Shawshank.
“He had the worst passer rating in the NFL… and all of a sudden he’s gone to Cincinnati—it’s a tailor-made, perfect fit for him: big arm, throw it outside the numbers, take advantage of these receivers,” the podcast host added.
Co-host Andrew Whitworth echoed the sentiment, calling the Bengals QB’s run “insane” and praising his leadership through injury: “Even in postgame, the way he handled it, the way he challenged the team to keep fighting… You can just tell that whole place needs it right now.”
For Fitzpatrick, however, more than the numbers and the leadership, it was mainly about Flacco’s perseverance to keep swinging that impressed him the most. “He had the hurt AC joint in his right shoulder—can’t hold him down. Nothing can hold this guy down, because this is the season of redemption for him.”
And perhaps that’s what makes the award name so fitting. Like Andy Dufresne, Flacco’s Cincinnati story has been about endurance, escape, and quiet defiance.
He’s gone from being a castoff to rewriting history in the same orange and black. After years of jokes and memes about his “elite” status, Flacco might have finally earned the last laugh while also bagging the first-ever Andy Dufresne Redemption Award.
