After watching the Texans game, it became apparent to me that our O-line is continuing to limit our offense. Reviewing the game Sunday:

• The Texans had 31 pressures (a 45% pressure rate, the highest in the league this week)
• Sheldon Rankins (Texans IDL) had 11 pressures and 3 sacks (15 is the all time record for an IDL… coming from a player who had 1 sack all season before this)
• Many of these pressures and sacks came from the Texans rushing 4… here is an example of a critical sack with no stunts that came in as one of the fastest sacks all day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft_LN51zACQ&t=15m50s

It seemed as our O-line was starting to get it together after the first 4 weeks. Previously, I though Volson was our weak link, but we were able to scheme up some help for him. Sunday, even Cappa and Orland Brown Jr had some of the quickest pass rush losses in the entire league, who are players who were previously our strong point on the line. What gives?

Could it be the coaching? Frank Pollack has received his criticism over the past couple years, but it doesn’t explain how a previously solid veteran like Cappa is losing a rep nearly instantly at a critical point in the game. The issue seems to be all around, with our personnel, scheme and coaching. Granted, I do think we won’t have as bad of line play as this game the rest of the year, but I do think it will continue to be a problem overall. What do y’all think are the Bengals options to fix this in season?

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