Bengals offensive line held up nicely in Wild Card win vs. Raiders
All season long, the Cincinnati Bengals’ offensive line has been considered the only real weakness on the offensive side of the ball.
Joe Burrow was sacked a league-leading 51 times and it was disheartening to see another below-average o-line when the organization knew Burrow would be their quarterback for two offseasons and failed to get him an above-average o-line.
With this being the case, many looked at this matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders and were nervous about the pass rush that Vegas possesses. Maxx Crosby is a freak of nature, notching eight sacks this season and never having fewer than seven sacks in a single season. Vegas also has Yannick Ngakoue, who had 10 sacks this season.
Considering what these two had been able to accomplish and how lackluster the Cincy offensive line had been, fans naturally were anxious about how the o-line would perform.
Would they be able to protect Burrow and give him the time he needs to make those big plays?
The answer is yes.
Its very likely Trey Hopkins, Quinton Spain and Jonah Williams had their best combined game in pass-pro this season vs Las Vegas.
— Andrew Russell (@Andrew_Russell7) January 16, 2022
Cincinnati Bengals offensive line did their part vs. Raiders
Burrow was sacked twice in the 26-19 win and one of those came from him holding onto the ball too long. Considering the talent on the other side of the ball, the fact that Burrow was only sacked those two times and hit just five times shows that the unit is capable of performing like an above-average group.
As Andrew Russell noted in the tweet above, the left side of the line played incredibly well. Jonah Williams was especially impressive, allowing just one pressure during the entire game. He did this against Ngakoue too, who, as mentioned above, has had quite the season in Las Vegas.
Huge shoutout to Jonah Williams for his performance against Yannick Ngakoue.
— Willie Lutz (@willie_lutz) January 16, 2022
🔶 77.0 PFF Pass Blocking Grade
🔶 1 Pressure Allowed
Shutting out a guy like Ngakoue was huge on a day where Maxx Crosby was wrecking the right side of the OL.
Proud of the #Bengals left tackle. pic.twitter.com/28PsqYXxKS
One of the biggest question marks surrounding Cincinnati entering the postseason was: Would the offensive line be able to hold up enough for Joe Burrow?
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It’s only one game, sure, but considering the guys on the other side and seeing how well the group held their own, the answer to that question might be yes. If it is, there’s absolutely nothing stopping this offense from getting the team to the Super Bowl.