The offensive line showed strong signs of growth in the second half of last season, and that has continued this season. Ari Meirov posted the amount of sacks each team has given up through five games, and the Bengals o-line rank 27th with only nine sacks allowed. The Browns currently rank first with 24 sacks through six games.

This currently has the Bengals on pace for only 31 sacks surrendered. That would mark the teams lowest total since 2014 when a unit consisting of Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler surrendered only 23 sacks.

The Offensive Line is Close to a Top-10 Unit

The o-line has not only succeeded in giving up less sacks, but less pressure all together. They currently rank fifth in the league in pressure rate given up out of shotgun. PFF ranked the Bengals line just outside the top ten of their o-line rankings at number eleven.

All starters on the line currently have a PFF pass-block grade of 60 or better, except for center Ted Karras who narrowly missed the mark at 59.2. The most impressive performances however have come from the right side of the line with both Dalton Risner and Amarius Mims ranking as top-20 linemen as pass-blockers.

Risner in particular has an overall grade of 81.7 with a stellar run-blocking grade of 80.7. He and Mims have continued to solidify the offensive line this season with Mims having the biggest leap of any linemen this year.

This season Mims has emerged as a potential all-pro talent at right tackle. He has surrendered the lowest pressure rate at 4% of any tackle this season despite being second in one-on-one situations at 87.6%.

The offensive line has another opportunity to show it's improvements on Sunday when they take on Trey Hendrickson and the Ravens in Baltimore. Hendrickson has recorded a 22.7% pressure rate in four games played this season and a pair of sacks. He should see a healthy dose of opportunities against Orlando Brown Jr. on Sunday, a matchup that could show up as a mismatch. Brown has surrendered a team-high 12 pressures so far this season, and three sacks.

If the success the offensive line has had this season is to continue, they must show they can hold up steadily against Hendrickson.

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