Protecting Joe Burrow, or Joe Flacco, is a must in every game. That’s especially true when facing the Pittsburgh Steelers and their bevy of pass rushers.
Thursday night, the Bengals’ offensive line had a strong night against T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, and the Steelers’ defense, which has 22 sacks on the season, good for second-most behind only the Broncos, a team that terrorized Cincinnati’s o-line in Week 4.
Only allowing two sacks against the Steelers is a really good night. Watt and Heyward had just one combined sack and four tackles, including just one tackle for loss.
When you consider the Bengals’ offensive line was starting a fifth-round rookie at right guard and a free agent signing at left guard Thursday night, it makes it even more impressive.
Add in Chase Brown rushing for 108 yards and the Bengals rushing for 142 yards as a team, and that helped Flacco and the passing game finally take off.
The Bengals had 470 yards of offense Thursday night, and this is what it should look like. When the offensive line protects the quarterback, whichever Joe it is, that’s when this offense can fly.
Hopefully, this was the breakthrough game that new offensive line coach Scott Peters needed for his unit.
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