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If you watched the Cincinnati Bengals-Buffalo Bills game . . .
. . . you know the Bengals entered the game without three key offensive linemen – offensive tackles La’el Collins and Jonah Williams, along with guard Alex Cappa.
But even with three backups, the Bengals’ offensive line still got a lot of push in the run game, dominating on the ground in their 27-10 victory, led by Joe Mixon rushing 20 times for 105 yards. Overall, they finished with 172 yards rushing on 34 carries for a 5.1 average.
Who saw that coming with three backup offensive linemen starting on the road? Playing with three backup linemen in one of the loudest NFL stadiums can lead to myriad communication issues.
But watching this patchwork offensive line function on a high level in Buffalo, if you didn’t know any better, you would have thought they were one of the best lines in the league.
So what happened?
Because even though they played backups, all the replacement linemen were huge, powerful guys.
The Bills are small in their front seven and got pushed around in this game.
Like the Jets, the Bills’ top defensive tackle, Ed Oliver, is a smaller, quicker guy. He finished the game with no solo tackles, and just one assistant tackle.
He was getting engulfed. Oliver is 6-1, 287 pounds.
The problem is if a guy like this doesn’t beat the offensive lineman off the snap, and the huge lineman gets his mitts on the undersized defensive lineman, it’s often hard for them to get off blocks.
This happened a lot for the Jets, especially after the bye week.
There were too many plays like this one against Miami in Week 18:
In the middle of the second quarter, on 3rd-and-1, #95 and #94 were taken out by offensive lineman, and running back Jeff Wilson shot up the middle for a gain of 11. Don’t know where the linebackers were on this play, but that is a discussion for another day.
There were too many plays like this after the bye week, and during the six-game losing streak to end the season.
Like the Bills, the Jets need to get bigger and stronger up front.
You watch the Cincinnati Bengals and look at how hard it is to run up the middle on them, with two athletic tree trunks up the middle – B.J. Hill and D.J. Reader.
Remember when Mo Wilkerson was in his prime, how hard it was to run on the Jets up the middle? Same when they had Kris Jenkins.
People can keep promoting how great the Jets’ defense was this past year. The hype is all over the place, and there is no doubt it was much improved from the 2021-22 season, they still have a long way to go, especially against the run.
Because they are too small upfront. It’s okay to have smaller, quicker guys, but you need to also have some guys like Hill and Reader. The Jets had one guy like that, but he’s too easily locked up by one player, and so often, he made the tackle down the field with great hustle, after getting locked up on the line on the scrimmage. He rarely takes up double teams and is somewhat penalty prone. But he will likely be re-signed by they like his “strain.”
The Bills and Jets need to make some changes in the scheme and personnel up front.
They both need more beef.
January 24, 2023
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