Bengals' O-Line Has Taken Significant Step Forward According to Latest Rankings

CINCINNATI — The Bengals' offensive line has made steady improvements all season, as evidenced by their 11th overall ranking by PFSN exiting their win over Baltimore on Thanksgiving to get to 4-8.

The group is gelling well under coach Scott Peters' tutelage and has gotten some help from its latest quarterback. Joe Flacco got the ball out quickly during his snaps, filling in for Joe Burrow, and it's helped the line cut its sack rate in a big way (5.5% sack rate, ninth in NFL). Burrow returned on Thursday and only took one sack at a 2.13% rate.

Chase Brown has also loved the way they are blocking for him as a top-three rushing offense by EPA/carry and success rate. They only ran for 3.9 yards per carry against Baltimore, but it was enough to keep the defense honest and post 32 points.

"I found a tempo that I wasn't really using at the start this season," Brown said this week about the surge. "It's allowing the O-line to really dominate and get their blocks set and get up to the second level, and especially on the tape, you kind of see the linebackers second-guessing themselves. They're jumping one way, and we're going the other. And feels really good. But it's not all me, it's the O-line playing at a really high level, and they're winning their one-on-ones and allowing me to find run lanes behind them."

We'll see if Burrow can uncharacteristically keep that sack rate around 5.5%, but the hiring of Peters has gone well so far. The Bengals aren't losing games because of their offensive line this season.

“It’s a lot of fun to watch Joe Burrow play football," Zac Taylor said after Thursday's win. "You could feel him get into a rhythm, and statistically, it’s not the best game we’ve ever had as an offense, but you could feel the rhythm he was in and the confidence he was in. You could see him move around, you know, the scrambles, even those for four or five yards. I think it was good for everybody to see. This is a team that’s been believing all along. It’s never too late to get going. For us to find a win – we’ve got to piggy-back on this. The team’s got a lot of confidence. We’re going to continue to work and continue to fight.”

Check out the full rankings here.

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