Not great, but is it fair?
It has been another sluggish start to yet another highly anticipated season for the Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals.
For the third season in a row, the Bengals have started a new year 0-2 after losing to both the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Although the team fell to the Chiefs, they improved greatly from Week 1, and the offense played much better as a unit.
Through the first few weeks, the offensive line has played much better than in past years, and Burrow has been up on his feet much more, which is priority No. 1.
Although the offensive line has looked better, Pro Football Focus disagrees and ranks the line much lower than expected so far through two weeks. The Bengals offensive line comes in at No. 28 only ahead of only the Raiders, Jaguars, Titans and Patriots.
Zoltan Buday wrote, “Left guard Cordell Volson went up against elite interior defender Chris Jones for much of Cincinnati’s bout with the Chiefs, and it showed in his stats.”
Buday continued, “Of the 12 pressures allowed by the Bengals’ offensive line, Volson was responsible for five, one sack, one hit and three hurries. He finished the day with an 11.0 PFF pass-blocking grade, the second-lowest figure among all guards in Week 2. Cincinnati’s offensive linemen struggled to create creases in the running game, highlighted by the fact that all five players earned sub-65.0 PFF run-blocking grades in Week 2.”
The offensive line has not played perfectly, but the unit is continuing to improve each and every week.
Protecting Joe Burrow has been priority No. 1 since being drafted, and the franchise continues to look to build a strong front.
