The Pittsburgh Steelers taking on the Cincinnati Bengals was always going to be a marquee matchup, given the competitiveness of the AFC North. However, an injury to Joe Burrow put a damper on things, even as the new-look Steelers with Aaron Rodgers continued to steadily climb the rankings. With the Jake Browning experiment not working out, though, the Bengals chose to bring in Joe Flacco via trade to be their new starting quarterback.
That has given this matchup new life, with two quarterbacks who dominated the NFL in the early 2010s, winning a Super Bowl each, once again facing each other near the tail end of their careers. It brought into question whether this was the oldest quarterback matchup in the history of the league. Here’s where Rodgers and Flacco stack up on that particular list.
Aaron Rodgers and Joe Flacco Continue To Play in Their 40s
As it currently stands, Rodgers is 41 years old, while Flacco is a year younger, at 40. It is only the second game in NFL history where both starting quarterbacks on a team are 40 or above. Their ages even led Cameron Heyward to coin the phrase “Icy Hot Bowl” for the matchup.
The last time two quarterbacks over 40 squared off in a football game was nearly five years ago, when Tom Brady and Drew Brees faced each other three separate times during the 2020 NFL season.
As far as the oldest quarterback matchup in league history goes, Brady and Brees’ third matchup takes the cake over Rodgers and Flacco.
LET. 1. COOK. 🍽️
📺: #PITvsCIN on @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/O0Fl9lq5oB
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 17, 2025
When Brady and Brees faced off on January 17, 2021, their combined age was 85 years and 172 days. By comparison, the Rodgers and Flacco duo falls short, currently at 82 years and 228 days.
The quarterbacks in this matchup, though, have become a real point of emphasis thanks to some pointed comments about Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin. He called out the Cleveland Browns for making a trade within the division that sent Flacco to the Bengals and did not think it was a smart decision.
So far this year, Flacco ranks 34th on PFSN’s QB Impact, with one of his five starts coming as a member of the Cincinnati roster. Rodgers, on the other hand, has been one of the surprising success stories of the young season, ranking 20th on the same metric.
With the Steelers sitting at 4-1, they have a real chance to secure a solid position to win their division with a victory on Thursday. Especially with the hole the Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens find themselves in without their superstar quarterbacks.