The Cincinnati Bengals handily defeated the Chicago Bears on Saturday night, going to 2-0 in the preseason so far, by a score of 27-9. The defense kept the Bears out of the end zone throughout the entire game — even though the Bears’ starters played while the Bengals benched theirs — and both Josh Johnson and Sean Clifford were able to score touchdowns.
They may have an offensive line problem. though.
It’s not with their starters—Orlando Brown Jr, Dylan Fairchild, Ted Karras, Dalton Risner, and Amarius
Mims are set and did not play in Week 2 of the preseason. They have an issue with their backup offensive linemen.
Over the last three years, Cody Ford has been the team’s swing tackle, though he has played every position on the line save center. He started at right guard for the Bengals on Saturday night, and he struggled (especially in pass protection, earning a 0.0 from PFF).
And it hasn’t just been this game either. Based on multiple reports, Ford has had an inconsistent camp at best, and obviously hasn’t inspired trust that he can back up Brown and Mims—both of whom are big guys and have missed games for the Bengals in the past.
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway was able to discuss the issue with head coach Zac Taylor, and he said no decisions have been made.
“I think that’s still pretty open,” he said, per Conway. “I think there’s guys we’re still looking at, and I wouldn’t say there’s any decision we’ve made there.”
The Bengals have done so well this offseason when it comes to reshaping the defense. They added Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, Bryan Cook, and others, and they added some talent in the draft as well. What they didn’t do was address the offensive line. Hopefully, whoever they decide earns the job doesn’t even need to step on the field, but they need to do something before the season starts.
Luckily, there is going to be a large number of cuts made soon, and there’s bound to be someone they could sign as their swing tackle.
Or, if they want to be more proactive, they could look at making another trade to bring in a backup offensive tackle.
Hopefully they just do something.
