The Cincinnati Bengals aren't particularly well-covered by the media. That's something that any long-time fan should know by now.
Oftentimes, pundits and analysts harp on old, outdated takes that would have made sense a few years ago, but definitely doesn't ring true today. While they get a few things right, there's still a lot that the media misses about the Bengals.
One of the most common takes you'll hear about the Bengals is their offensive line… or lack thereof. Joe Burrow's iconic playoff run in 2021 happened in spite of his offensive line masquerading as matadors every other week. That, coupled with Burrow's injury history, has led many outside fans to believe that every season, Cincinnati's offensive line needs to be fixed. Former Steeler Willie Colon, for example, has this to say about the Bengals on Good Morning Football:
"You understand Joe Burrow's been sacked 130 times since 2022. That's a lot of times...I think it comes down to the big uglies up front, that five. Can they protect him and keep them upright? They signed Orlando Brown. They signed Dalton Risner. They've done things to kind of solidify the offensive line, but if that five can keep him upright and allow him to what he do, man, the Bengals are going to be special."
This, frankly, is a tired take at this point. Four or five years ago, yes, this was a valid criticism. However, this is not the case this year… and it hasn't been for the last few years.
It's time to separate Burrow's injury history from his offensive line
Joe Burrow is a talented player who's been afflicted by the injury bug throughout his career. This is what most fans think when the Bengals quarterback is mentioned. Burrow's injury history is well-documented at this point, missing a big chunk of the 2023 and 2025 season due to injuries.
Many have pointed towards Burrow's offensive line as the primary reason for his injuries. There's a good reason for this stigma: the Bengals star's catastrophic injury in his rookie season was caused by a sack. However, things have changed since then, and most of Burrow's ailments after that have been freak accidents more than a failure from the pass protectors.
In 2022, Burrow played in all available games without too many issues. He dealt with knee and leg injuries throughout the year, but let's be real: there's no quarterback that stays off the injury list for the entire year. His biggest issue was the appendectomy he had before the season. Unless the offensive line somehow gave Burrow appendicitis, we can say that the o-line had nothing to do with this season.
The 2023 campaign is when Burrow missed a ton of time or was hampered due to two injuries. The first is a calf strain he incurred during training camp. Based on the intel we know about the injury and the video footage, this one's not entirely on the offensive line. Burrow's calf injury came after he rolled out of the pocket, but he was not in significant duress.
Then came his wrist injury, which is the definition of a freak injury. Burrow suffered a torn UCL midway through the 2023 season while making a routine throw to the flat. Despite being untouched, Burrow's UCL seemingly just snapped out of nowhere.
Burrow's turf toe injury in 2025, on the other hand, can and should be blamed on the offensive line. It took just two seconds for the Bengals’ protection to collapse in that play (against a four-man rush, mind you!), and Burrow barely had space to scramble before being taken down. That being said, we'd argue that the severity of Burrow's injury was unexpected: Brock Purdy suffered a similar injury a week before that, and his was significantly less severe.
This offensive line is better than the critics give them credit for
There's also something being completely ignored in this discourse. It's that this Bengals offensive line is MILES ahead from the rotting corpse that Burrow dragged to two AFC Championship Game appearances and a trip to the Super Bowl.
From left to right, the Bengals started Jonah Williams, Quinton Spain, Trey Hopkins, Hakeem Adeniji, and Isaiah Prince in the Super Bowl against the Rams. For Cincinnati fans, this list might as well be a list of players banned from entering Paycor Stadium. This year, Cincinnati is fielding a much-improved version of their offensive line.
We have to talk about the Bengals’ interior offensive line first, because this is where Cincinnati has seen a ton of success recently. Their midseason pickup of Dalton Risner proved to be an inspired one. Risner finished the season as one of the best right guards in the league, finishing fourth according to PFF's metrics. He allowed a pressure rate of just under 3.5%.
Incoming sophomore Dylan Fairchild is still a work in progress, but boy is his progress bar moving quickly. After he and most of the starters had a rough start to the year, Fairchild emerged as a reliable left guard for the team. He was considered as an average guard… which is much better than whatever Spain provided for the team.
Ted Karras, the man in the middle, has been one of the most consistent centers in the league. The only holdover from the Bengals’ offensive line spending spree in 2022, the ex-Patriots offensive lineman allowed pressure to get to the quarterback just 2.59% of the time. He's still a reliable man in the middle for Cincinnati.
There might be a brewing issue at the tackle position, but there's reason to be optimistic as well. Orlando Brown Jr has regressed a bit over the last few years. One of Patrick Mahomes’ most reliable protectors during their dynastic reign, age and injuries have seemingly caught up to the Bengals’ blindside blocker. That being said, he's still solid at the position and is more often good for a good block instead of getting beat.
Cincinnati is ready to replace OBJ's position though thanks to their 2025 first-round pick. Amarius Mims, after dealing with some injuries in the year, has emerged as one of the better first-round picks the Bengals have made over the last few years. The big man has become a rock at right tackle, being firmly an above-average player at his position.
Is the Bengals’ offensive line a world-beater? Absolutely not. Not even the most delusional Cincinnati fan will tell you that this unit is in the top ten in the league. However, this unit has shown remarkable growth in the back half of the 2025 season. The Bengals’ offensive line started getting better around the same time Joe Flacco took over, and it continued to be solid when Burrow returned midway through the season. That signals that their growth as a pass-protecting unit isn't just because of Flacco's play style.
A two-way street
Burrow could also help out his offensive line a bit. By his own admission, the Bengals star has caused many of the sacks he's taken due to his aggressiveness. When Burrow took a sack in his lone appearance in Week 1 of the offseason, Cincinnati's offensive line became the talk of the town. “Same old Bengals,” they said.
However, if you actually watched the play, you'd realize that this one wasn't on the offensive line, but rather more on Burrow and maybe the play-call. The Lions sent seven players to blitz, which is already a nightmare for the offensive line. The Bengals also ran play-action under center, which is a welcome development, but is something that Burrow is still getting used to.
Despite that, the offensive line gave Burrow around three seconds to make a play after the play fake. After his first read was shut down, Burrow could have just thrown the ball away if he didn't like what he saw, or bailed out of the pocket quicker.
This is just something that Burrow does, and will continue to happen in the season. This is just who Joe Burrow is. Asking him to stop hunting for the big plays is like asking a shark to stop swimming: it just won't happen. However, if Burrow can make quicker decisions in the pocket in these scenarios, then he'll make his offensive line look better… and keep him away from the dreaded injury list.
Gone are the days where fans and critics say, “The Bengals’ offensive line needs to be better.” Now, we should be asking this offensive line to continue what they've done in years past: steadily improve and prove that they are already better than they were before.
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