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Bengals' Offensive Line Breakdown: Analyzing Their Performance in Week 12 Against Steelers

Cincinnati is 5-6 following their loss to Pittsburgh. How did they perform in the trenches?

Parker Blake

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The Bengals weren't able to squeak out a victory against the Steelers in Week 12, but they might've had their best performance in the Joe Burrow era.

After finalizing my grades, the Bengals had three linemen grade above an 80. When your front five is able to put up numbers like that against a top level defensive front seven like the Steelers have, it feels like we may be getting glimpses of the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the offensive line struggles in Cincinnati. 

Though it wasn't a perfect game, Cordell Volson's clean sheet versus a future Hall of Famer in Cam Heyward is one of a few reasons Bengals fans have to feel optimistic moving forward.

Week 12: Struggles

The Bengals' run game has been the talk of the town. Whether folks are talking about running the ball more or trying to figure out why the run game seems to lack efficiency week after week, the consensus seems to be that this team is going to have to lean on the run game with Joe Burrow out for the season. Run blocking has been a struggle all season for this front five. Per my grades, the best run blocker on the team this season has been Jonah Williams (72.95), which is 8.5 points ahead of the next best option. The group has an average grade of 66.32 which, while not terrible, is not a great sign for a team that should be looking to be a little more run heavy moving forward.

This group has been quite the rollercoaster moving through the season. Consistency is something they need to be working on as we move into the final few games of the season. Their group grades are fluctuating around five points per week. Using this week's group grade of 80.71 (the highest mark of the season) as an example, we can expect them to either grade out around 85 or (more likely) 75 against the Jaguars. 

While neither of those grades are anything to pout about, this week was also the unit's biggest swing. They were up 12.26 points from Week 11 to Week 12, while their largest negative swing (-9.31) came from Week 9 to 10. In short, the group needs to find their groove and stick in it.

Week 12: Upside

Could the Bengals' front five be finding their stride? Over the last few weeks, the offensive line has been on a bit of an uptick. After going on a solid run in Weeks 5-9 of grades above 70 (three of four weeks grading above 75), they cooled off for a couple weeks. However, after the big jump this week and the slow ramp up of pass protection grades (69.41, 79.52 and 85.76 in Weeks 10-12 respectively), it seems like they may be ramping up for some more high quality play in December and January.

Volson has had the attention of a lot of Bengals fans this season. After a solid rookie season where he earned top rookie honors, fans were excited to see what improvements would be made coming into year two. 

He got off to quite a rocky start in 2023, but has been quietly making some significant strides since. Volson is my highest graded Bengals offensive lineman since Week 9 (80.00 overall through that stretch). This week was definitely proof of that as he put up the highest overall grade of the season for the unit. He may still have a ways to go, but the second year left guard has definitely impressed me this season.

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Parker Blake
PARKER BLAKE

Parker Blake is a high school offensive line coach and run game coordinator from Salt Lake City, Utah. Though he lives on the other side of the country, Parker has been a lifelong Bengals fan. Parker has turned his passion for the Bengals and the offensive line into a hobby and finds himself analyzing the team's film throughout the season. When his head isn't buried into O-Line film, Parker enjoys binging new shows every week with his wife or finding new hobbies to enjoy with his friends.

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