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Coming into the January 13 AFC playoff matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco was one of the feel-good stories of the NFL Playoffs. And why wouldn’t he be?
Less than two months ago, the soon-to-be 39-year-old (his birthday is Tuesday) was watching this wild NFL season play out on his couch. But with the injury-riddled Browns needing quarterback help, Flacco stepped in and performed beautifully, going 4-1 in his five starts to help lead Cleveland to just its third postseason berth since rejoining the league in 1999.
But Flacco’s dream season turned into a nightmare on Saturday as the Super Bowl 47 MVP made the wrong kind of NFL history by throwing a pair of pick-sixes in the Browns’ 45-14 loss to the Texans.
Per Pro Football Reference, Flacco became only the fifth quarterback in the Super Bowl era to throw multiple pick-sixes in a postseason game. To make matters worse, the Texans had yet to record a single pick-six during the regular season.
Joe Flacco Becomes 5th QB to Throw Multiple Pick-Sixes in the NFL Playoffs
After going 3-and-out on their first two drives, the Browns’ offense settled in nicely as Flacco led touchdown drives on their next two possessions to give his team a 14-10 lead early in the second quarter. But that was as good as it got for Cleveland.
The Browns’ defense couldn’t do anything to stop C.J. Stroud, and the Texans scored 14 unanswered points to take a 24-14 lead into halftime. And things just got worse from there.
On their first offensive possession of the second half, the Browns’ decent drive was stopped short when Flacco faced pressure from the Houston defense and threw a questionable pass that Steven Nelson intercepted and returned 82 yards for a touchdown, giving the Texans a 31-14 lead.
On the fourth play of the ensuing possession, Flacco was intercepted again, this time by Christian Harris, who returned it 36 yards to the house to put the game out of reach.
As mentioned, Flacco is now just the fifth quarterback in the Super Bowl era to have two interceptions returned for touchdowns in a playoff game. Unsurprisingly, all five QBs to accomplish this unwanted feat lost.
| QBs to Throw Multiple Pick-Sixes in NFL Playoffs | |||||
| Date | QB | Pick6 | Team | Opponent | Result |
| 12/27/1975 | Jim Hart | 2 | STL | LAR | L, 35-23 |
| 01/20/2002 | Brett Favre | 3 | GB | STL | L, 45-17 |
| 01/26/2003 | Rich Gannon | 3 | OAK | TB | L, 48-21 |
| 01/05/2008 | Todd Collins | 2 | WAS | SEA | L, 35-14 |
| 01/13/2024 | Joe Flacco | 2 | CLE | HOU | L, 45-14 |
Outside of the two interceptions, Flacco completed 34 of 46 passes for 307 yards with a touchdown against the Texans in what could have been his final NFL game.
Joe Flacco Missed Out on Being the Solo Owner of 2 NFL Records
Had Flacco been able to lead the Browns to victory, he would’ve made the right kind of NFL history as he would have set two new league records, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Entering Saturday’s matchup with Houston, the longtime Baltimore Ravens‘ signal-caller had never lost a game in the Wild Card Round, going 5-0. Had Cleveland come out on top, Flacco would have passed Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre for the most wild-card wins in history.
A victory also would have given Flacco eight postseason road wins, which would have broken him out of a tie with Tom Brady for the most in NFL history.
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