Fans on Thursday night will get a double dose of age-old wisdom from their quarterbacks when the 4-1 Steelers travel to meet the 2-4 Bengals in Cincinnati.
For only the third time in NFL history, a 40-year-old quarterback will start for both teams, when Aaron Rodgers of the Steelers opposes Joe Flacco of the Bengals in a meeting of old friends and still-pretty ball-throwers.
"I think it's great for all the old guys," said Rodgers. "I know that when I watch other sports, maybe it's because I'm the older guy, but I tend to pull for the older guys to win championships. I've been friends with Steph (Curry) for a long time. Steph is one of the older guys in the NBA now. Anytime the Warriors are playing, I'm always pulling for Steph to ball out, for them to win.
"But it's great. I've known Joe for a long time. He's been great coming to my charity event. He's been a great ambassador for the league. He's had a great career. And it's fun that we're both still playing."
Flacco is 40 (will turn 41 in January) and Rodgers is 41 (will turn 42 in December).
They form the second oldest tandem of such meetings. The other games involving 40-plus QBs were played twice by the same players in 2020, when Drew Brees' Saints beat Tom Brady's Bucs both times. Brees was almost 42 at the time and Brady was 43.
Thursday night will mark the fourth time Rodgers and Flacco will have quarterbacked against each other. Rodgers' Packers beat Flacco's Ravens in 2009 and 2013, and also beat Flacco's Broncos in 2019.
"I've just always enjoyed watching him throw the ball," Rodgers said of Flacco. "He's got one of the prettiest balls. Tight spiral. Deep ball thrower. He is one of the old school, 2000s, '90s prototypical quarterbacks.
"When I was coming in the game, it was the big guys who had the big arms. Now you're seeing some really athletic guys playing the position. I think he would probably agree with me. Sometimes when you watch how the guys play, you feel like they're playing a different position because of the kind of athleticism and the way the game is called. There's more read-option called. You're seeing more of the college game in the NFL. But I've always enjoyed watching Joe play. I have a lot of respect for him and his game."
So far this season, Rodgers is outperforming Flacco on the stats sheet. Rodgers is eighth in the NFL with a 105.4 passer rating (Flacco 34th at 67.0), ninth with 10 TD passes and 3 interceptions (Flacco 4 TD passes, 6 interceptions), and 12th with a 68.8 completion percentage (Flacco 59.5).
Of course, Flacco is coming off his best game with his new Bengals teammates, a game in which he completed 64.4 percent of his passes with 2 TDs and 0 interceptions for a 90.9 passer rating.
While Flacco's arrow appears to have turned up, Rodgers believes that his is still ascending as well.
"I'm just getting healthy," Rodgers said. "I had a great week on the bye week. Spent time with my bodywork guru out West. Felt good coming back. Gonna have to get with him a few more times this season.
"The first couple weeks, I was a little tighter. I'm starting to feel a little bit more like myself."
While he's getting his body just right, his team's cohesion is coming along with it. The revamped Steelers have won three consecutive games.
"We're still five games into playing with each other, so I'd like to think that there's more continuity with me and the guys out there," he said. "Obviously, we've had some injuries, but (I'm) seeing some more reactionary plays that we talked about in practice – and we work in practice – showing up on the field on game day. So I'm happy with the progression."
Can it progress quickly enough for a soon-to-be 42-year-old on this short week?
"I feel like today is the tough day," Rodgers said. "For most of us, especially us over 30, by Wednesday you start feeling better. I think we all just kind of suck it up, and no excuses, and go out there and know there's a reward at the end of this, which is few days off.
"Everybody's got at least one of these, so we just suck it up and go on the road and take care of business and get a little break."
