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Bengals Film Breakdown: Communication Along O-Line Improving in Quest to Protect Joe Burrow

Cincinnati's offensive line is getting better and better.

Mike Santagata

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After four weeks, fans and media started to question whether the Bengals actually fixed anything with their offensive line additions this offseason. Especially after the first two weeks when Joe Burrow took a combined 13 sacks. It looked pretty similar to 2021 when that area of the team was a major weakness. 

It has gotten better every week and the unit played well against the Saints this past week. They finally looked like the offensive line that had been talked about all offseason. They weren't perfect, but their communication has improved, which is the biggest reason why they've started to gel.

Communication

One of the toughest things for any new offensive line is communication. No one on this offensive line played with the guy next to them prior to this season, so they all needed to start fresh with their ability to work with each other. This communication is critical to both the run and pass game for double teams and stunt/blitz pickups.

Take a good look at the deuce block between right guard Alex Cappa and right tackle La’el Collins. They get a good fit on the 3-technique and start to drive him backward. The Saints like to play very aggressively so the linebacker Pete Werner tries to run through the opening between Cappa and the center Ted Karras, but Cappa does a great job to come off of the block and pick him up. Even with the early departure, they got enough movement prior to that to open up a hole for Joe Mixon to burst through.

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This is the same concept and another example of a high quality double team from Cappa and Collins along the right side. Once again they displace the 3-technique before Cappa has to leave early to pick up Werner. Collins gets better initial pop on this one as he takes a good gallop before slamming into the hip of the defender. On the left side, they do a great job of getting movement themselves, but it needs to be a tick quicker so that they can climb to the linebacker.

Just last week this double team between Cappa and Collins was not as effective. You can see here that they kind of mistime it and Collins ends up hitting quite a bit of Cappa rather than the defender. This causes less movement on contact and forces Perine to work to his left rather than allowing him to run through that hole. On the other side, they time it up well, but left guard Cordell Volson is unable to maintain his leverage.

There is still some room for improvement, but it was encouraging to see the offensive line communicate well with each other in the run game. As they continue to develop chemistry with each other they will be able to be even more effective on these double teams. In the passing game, Cappa and Collins showed a similar level of communication.

Cappa and Collins are on the island trying to pick up this TEX stunt. A TEX stunt is when the defensive tackle will penetrate outwards and the defensive end will loop around him. Another reason this pickup is extra difficult is that Collins has taken an extra wide split. However, they still do a tremendous job in passing this off. Cappa punches the 3-technique outwards while Collins steps inside to close the gap. After they pass off the penetrator, Cappa works back inside to take the looper. This was an extremely difficult stunt to pass and the two linemen provide teach tape on how to do it.

This play is a similar stunt pickup, but they also have Karras working with them. This allows for Cappa to lean into the punch a little bit more so that he makes sure Collins can take over the 3-technique. Karras does a good job of getting into great position to pick up the looping end as well. Great 3-man pickup on the TEX from those players.

The left side of the line is still working on developing this level of communication. It’s almost there at times, but there’s just something a little bit off.

Everything about this pickup is good up until Volson has to anchor down and take the looper. Volson does a good job of punching out the penetrator and Jonah Williams steps down to overtake that block. They’re on the island so they don’t have help from Karras, which means Volson now has to get back in position to take the looper. He does a good job there, but then just cannot anchor down and stop the looper from having an effect on the play. It’s about 80% of the way there on this play, they just need Volson to be able to anchor down effectively.

This pickup is a little bit worse from the left side, but it’s still almost there. This one falls apart at the beginning because Volson doesn’t knock the penetrator out enough and Williams does not step down to help him out. This gives Kaden Elliss the room he needs to split between the two linemen and get to Joe Burrow right when he finishes his dropback.

The communication on the left side has its highlights as well though.

Here they do a good job of passing off the slanting 3-technique. As the defensive tackle rushes outwards, Volson gives him a good punch to pass him over and then trusts that Williams will be able to overtake that block. There’s no looper coming back, but this allows Volson to squeeze back inside to help against the blitz.

This play is even better between the two where Williams passes off the end to Volson so that he can pick up the nickel. The communication between the two is great, but once again Volson needs to be able to anchor down better so that he can take on these guys when they come into him with a full head of steam.

Compare that nickel pickup to the issues the right side had doing something similar.

Cappa and Collins have a 3 over 2 situation which means they want to pick up the two most dangerous defenders. Both players need to be quicker when they see the linebacker drop into coverage. Cappa needs to get out so Collins can take on nickel and Collins needs to trust that Cappa will be able to block the defensive end.

Still, even considering that last play, the right side is better at communication at this moment. One possible reason the left side is taking longer to get to this level of communication is that they’re just less experienced with a rookie left guard. Both Williams and Volson should develop better chemistry so that there are fewer of these missed pickups. The offensive line has played well the past two weeks despite imperfect communication so there is still more room for improvement to become an even better unit which should spark optimism for the offense in general.

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Mike Santagata
MIKE SANTAGATA

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