O-Line Cost Us a Championship

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(02-20-2022, 10:25 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote:

While I laughed at the image, you can't say that when it happened, you weren't excited about the Cordy Glenn trade, the Billy Price pick, the Jackson Carman pick, the signing of Reily Reiff....who was a solid contributor before the injury.

I look at it this way:  (And I don't expect it to be a popular opinion, but hear me out)  The Bengals offensive line wasn't a problem against the steelers or ravens.  Nor was it a problem against the Chiefs.  They won all six of those games, playing each of them twice.  So what happened?  When they faced a defensive line that could beat you in multiple ways:  The Browns when their guys were healthy.  The Titans defensive line.  The Raiders defensive line.  The Rams defensive line.  They were over-matched.  The offense struggled.  Was the offense completely shut down?  No.  No, it wasn't.  They still won a lot of those games.  Why?  The offense could scheme to overcome some of the deficiencies against those defenses.  Could it overcome all of them?  Obviously, also no.  

Where am I going with this?  Well, will the Bengals face a defense like the Rams again?  Donald is retiring.  That team is in shambles.  The 49ers have a tough defense, but have QB issues.  The Packers will always be in contention as far as they have Rogers.  But does their defense frighten you?  What AFC defense do you think the Bengals can't handle?  We don't know how we would fare against Buffalo, but KC sure owned their asses and the Bengals can beat you just as many ways.  KC's defense?  Mahommes contract kicks in next year.  It will be interesting to see how that team handles their new found cap issues.  They went "all in" like the Rams spending on FA acquisitions for their line.  No idea how they will look next year.


Please don't interpret this as a "hey, we are just fine...don't change a thing", but the narrative that the Bengals have no shot with the line they have and won't be able to be back next year is just not accurate (not saying you are saying this, but just in general).  EVERY TEAM has significant issues.  I think the Bengals are in a GREAT position to make next year's team even better while many other teams will be using duct tape (per your image) to try and compete.  

Will it be easy?  Hell, no.  But I sure like their chances.