4 scapegoats if things go wrong for Bengals in 2023

2. Offensive Line

The Bengals made it to Super Bowl LVI despite their offensive line not being very good. It's very likely that if the unit could have held up for just one play, the result would have been different and maybe the Bengals hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in franchise history that year.

Instead, the line got destroyed by Aaron Donald, and Joe Burrow didn't have time to make what could have been the game-winning touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase. The Bengals front office brought in three new offensive linemen in free agency and then drafted Cordell Volson who won a starting job before the season began.

The o-line struggled at the beginning of the year but by the end of the regular season, they looked pretty good. Unfortunately, injuries took out three of their starting o-linemen and we saw what happened in the playoffs. Burrow didn't have time to make the throws he needed to make in the AFC Championship Game and the rest is unfortunate history.

The Bengals signed Orlando Brown Jr. to play left tackle this year, giving Burrow the best o-line of his young career. It's easy to say "This offensive line is going to be great!" but them living up to the hype isn't a guarantee. It might take this group time to gel or maybe they never get to that point.

We've seen Burrow overcome bad offensive line play but eventually it'll catch up to the rest of the team. If it does again this time around, the offensive line won't be spared by the fans.