Joe Flacco 'Super Grateful' for Browns Run but 'Stinks the Way It Ended' vs. Texans

Joe Flacco's incredible comeback story ended with a blowout 45-14 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday, but he still appreciates how he was able to go from seemingly retired to starting in the playoffs thanks to a late-season run.

"I was so fortunate to become part of this team—it's a special group," the Cleveland Browns quarterback said, per Jake Trotter of ESPN. "To be given a chance to do this with those guys, I'm super grateful for it. ... Stinks the way it ended. But it was a lot of fun and I'm grateful for the time that we had."

Flacco, who has been in the league since 2008, is best known for leading the Baltimore Ravens to the Super Bowl during the 2012 campaign.

Yet the veteran went a combined 1-8 as a spot starter for the New York Jets from 2020 through 2022 and appeared to be done in the NFL for much of this season considering he was 38 years old and not signed to a team.

However, the Browns signed him Nov. 20 after Deshaun Watson was lost for the season to a shoulder injury.

Nobody could have envisioned what happened next.

Cleveland went 4-1 in his starts while he became the first quarterback in the league to pass for 250 or more yards and multiple touchdowns in each of his first five games with a new team, per Trotter. He was defying age and his recent performances for the Jets and ended up completing 60.3 percent of his passes for 1,616 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

The Browns defense was arguably the best in the league all season, so Cleveland fans could be forgiven for envisioning a deep playoff run with Flacco throwing to Amari Cooper and the other side of the ball shutting down opposing offenses.

However, the Texans had other plans.

C.J. Stroud continued his incredible rookie season by completing 16-of-21 passes for 274 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, while Flacco all but ended Cleveland's comeback chances with pick-sixes on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter.

"You're trying to throw a ball away, not trying to make a bad decision, but at the end of the day you have to be able to live with sacks," Flacco said. "You have to realize that sometimes sacks aren't bad things."

It surely wasn't the ending he had in mind, but Cleveland still made the playoffs for just the second time since the 2002 season in large part because of the veteran's individual brilliance in a situation where he wasn't expected to succeed like he did.