After Joe Flacco lit up the Pittsburgh Steelers for 342 yards and three touchdowns on Thursday Night Football, Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett reacted to the performance on Friday
The NFL world watched former Cleveland Browns QB Joe Flacco, put on an absolute show for the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football.
His 31-for-47, 342-yard, three touchdown performance fueled a 33-31 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, sparking "thank you Cleveland" chants from Bengals fans following the game, a little over a week removed from Browns general manager Andrew Berry shipping the 40-year-old old south down I-71.
Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett didn't miss the performance either.
"I think Joe looked like Joe," Garrett said after practice on Friday. "Happy that he went out there and got a win. He played how we know he can. So he made plays when they needed him to, got the ball out quick, put it on the money down the field. He looked good."
To many, Flacco looked too good. It raises plenty of questions about why that version of the 18-year veteran never emerged during the first four weeks of the season here in Cleveland? Don't look to Garrett for an answer.
"That ain't got nothing to do with me," he asserted. "Whether on the offensive side of the ball or where he is at now. It's got nothing to do with us."
Still, Garrett sees what everyone sees. The Browns offense ranks dead last in points per game at a clip of 13.6 per game. They're right at or near the bottom of the league in many other statistical categories as well.
The incompetence on that side of the ball left Garrett openly voicing his frustrations after last Sunday's 23-9 loss to the Steelers. With frustration already creeping in, it's fair to wonder if Flacco's performance against the same team Cleveland couldn't muster even 10 points against left Garrett questioning the organizations commitment to winning. He wouldn't go that far.
"It makes me see that whatever offense that they're committed to running to produce wins doesn't see that Joe is going to be the most productive in that offense," Garrett said. "So they want to move the pocket a little bit. Maybe his style and what he does doesn't fit us as we want to run it."
In the eyes of the Browns, rookie QB Dillon Gabriel was a better fit for what head coach Kevin Stefanski is trying to run on offense right now. At 1-5 on the season, they have yet to see the switch pay off.
"I mean all offenses are a little bit different whether it's the players that they have or the schemes that they run," said Garrett. "So you’ve got to make it work with the guys that you have and figure it out from there."
Stefanski and company will try to do just that against the 1-5 Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Another loss, though, could bring much bigger questions for the organization to answer.