Poor offensive line play has plagued the Cincinnati Bengals throughout Joe Burrow's career, and that flaw was on full display yet again on Sunday.
In Week 2's home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Bengals' bullies in the trenches yielded yet another pressure right into Burrow's lap, leading to yet another injury for the health-challenged field general.
None of the blame should fall at Burrow's pun-intended feet. The o-line has consistently been a collective five-man turnstile that forces Burrow to either stand in and get smoked as he throws, or thrusts him from the pocket in scramble drill mode.
Bengals' pass blocking failure on 4-man rush results in Joe Burrow injury
The only silver lining to Burrow's latest ailment is that it's a left toe injury, as the team announced. Nevertheless, it's hard to express how anger-inducing it is to see the offensive line fail to pass off a stunting four-man rush, which can be seen below on the CBS replay.
Joe Burrow stayed down after a sack with trainers focusing on his ankle. He's headed to the medical tent. pic.twitter.com/nRwKaiK1wj
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 14, 2025
And assuming the risk of disrupting y'all's reading flow, it's worth sharing the following stat from Warren Sharp once again as I have many times leading up to the 2025 season.
most brutal stat you'll read today:
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) July 1, 2025
Joe Burrow has been blitzed at the #1 LOWEST rate of any QB the last 4 years
--but--
he has been hit within 2.5 seconds of snap at the #1 HIGHEST rate 👀
Burrow has been hit within 2.5 seconds 25% MORE than the #2 most hit QB in the NFL 🤯 pic.twitter.com/QOCOmIvRgg
The changing of the guard — another pun — at offensive guard with the likes of rookie Dylan Fairchild and recent addition Dalton Risner was supposed to upgrade Cincinnati's interior pass-blocking. Welp, it looks like Risner is still getting his sea legs under him, and Fairchild is taking some expected rookie lumps.
We might be seeing a real-time regression from left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., too. Although he has to be considered the Bengals' best overall blocker at this time, and I can't commend him enough for gutting through a broken leg in 2024, Brown isn't looking quite like a franchise-caliber blindside protector at moment.
When Trent Brown went down with an injury last season, it was huge that 2024 first-rounder Amarius Mims was ready and able to step in as the starter at right tackle. In the early going of his sophomore campaign, however, Mims isn't looking like a cornerstone worthy of a no-brainer, lucrative second contract.
Not that I want to throw in the towel on this offensive line unit, or discount how two pivotal pieces at guard disrupted last year's continuity up front. That said, the whole philosophy behind Zac Taylor playing starters far more in the preseason was meant to avoid this type of rust coming out the gates.
Instead, it feels like we're back to square one regarding the Bengals' persistent pass protection issues. The run blocking was an abject disaster in Week 1, and Cincinnati couldn't move the ball through the air in the second half versus the Browns, either.
All we can do as a collective Who Dey Nation is pray for good health for Burrow, who at this point feels like he has an Andrew Luck-style hex on him as he tries to deliver a long-elusive Super Bowl for the Bengals.