If Father Time is truly undefeated, he was nowhere to be found Thursday night.
During a busy night on the jam-packed October sports calendar, it was a trio of athletes in their 40s who shined the brightest. It felt like 2012 again on Thursday Night Football when 40-year-old Joe Flacco and 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers battled head-to-head in a tight game between the Steelers and Bengals. Over in the ALCS, the Blue Jays handed the ball to 41-year-old Max Scherzer in a game they needed badly on the road.
The result: One of the most fun nights of prime-time sports in recent memory. Maybe these guys can play forever?
Joe Flacco, Bengals quarterback
Age: 40 years, 274 days
Stats: 31/47; 342 YDS, 3 TD, 0 INT, 108.6 RT
Traded to Cincinnati just 10 days ago, Flacco made his first home start at Paycom Stadium in a Bengals uniform on Thursday night. And he made Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin look like a genius for pulling off the move.
Flacco had his best game since Week 5 last season, logging a 108.6 passer rating and connecting with star receiver Ja'Marr Chase 16 times for 161 yards and a score on a whopping 23 targets.
For the first time in five years, Flacco was the younger quarterback on the field opposite Rodgers. And it showed, particularly on one play in the fourth quarter when he scrambled for 12 yards on a hilariously entertaining read option.
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"The play clock was down, and I said, ‘Ah, screw it.’,'" Flacco said of the read option call. "I was just going to hand it off, but [Steelers linebacker Alex Highsmith] came off the edge so damn quick I was like, ‘Alright, I haven’t done this since my first or second year but I’ll do it now.'"
Flacco's still got it. And so does his counterpart from Thursday night.
Aaron Rodgers, Steelers quarterback
Age: 41 years, 319 days
Stats: 23/34; 249 YDS, 4 TD, 2 INT, 103.7 RT
Rodgers threw two interceptions Thursday night that led to 10 Bengals points. But other than that he was fantastic, tossing four touchdowns for the second time this season while targeting nine different receivers in the passing game.
The 41-year-old's most impressive throw of the night was one that fell incomplete. After the Bengals took the lead on Evan McPherson's 36-yard field goal with seven seconds left, Rodgers attempted to add another Hail Mary to his YouTube highlight reel.
RELATED: Aaron Rodgers Was Furious After a Teammate Tackled Him During a TD Celebration
Rodgers rolled to his left to buy some time and launched a pass from his own 36-yard line. The pass traveled 69.8 yards in the air, which Next Gen Stats confirmed was the longest recorded pass attempt since at least 2017.
Rodgers threw this 70+ yards in the air. pic.twitter.com/RrCVFmA8Hb
— NFL (@NFL) October 17, 2025
This is 40. Or, uh, This is 41.
Max Scherzer, Blue Jays starting pitcher
Age: 41 years, 82 days
Stats: 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 4 BB
Needing a win to even up the ALCS against the Mariners, Toronto handed the ball to Scherzer, its grizzled vet. He didn't want to give that ball back.
Scherzer waltzed through the first four innings, allowing just one run on Josh Naylor's solo homer. When Blue Jays manager John Schneider strolled out to the mound in the fifth inning with a runner on base, Scherzer wanted none of it. He yelled at his skipper to get the heck back into the dugout.
RELATED: Max Scherzer Unleashed Unexpected Weapon to Baffle Mariners, Even ALCS 2–2
At 41 years old with three Cy Young awards on the résumé, Scherzer's got every right to do that.
"I've been waiting for that moment," Schneider said after the game. "It was awesome, I thought he was going to kill me. It was great."
It was Scherzer's first postseason win since leading the Nationals to the 2019 World Series title. By the looks of it, he's not done, either.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Flacco, Rodgers and Scherzer, Oh My! An Unforgettable Night for Dudes in Their 40s.