Joe Burrow suffered a significant turf toe injury that is expected to sideline him for at least three months after being sacked in the Cincinnati Bengals’ Week 2 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Burrow’s latest injury is serving as a moment of reckoning for the Bengals’ much-maligned offensive line and the front office that built it.
Cincinnati’s offensive line has been one of the worst such pass-blocking units in the NFL since Burrow’s rookie season in 2020. Behind the Bengals’ blockers, Burrow has routinely been among the NFL’s most sacked quarterbacks and has suffered three significant injuries.
Just how bad has the Bengals’ offensive line been during Burrow’s tenure? Below is a breakdown of the notable stats about the unit’s struggles.
Bengals offensive line stats
The Bengals have not been able to perform consistently in pass protection at any point during Burrow’s six seasons in Cincinnati.
Case in point, the Bengals have ranked in the bottom-six of pass-block win rate in each season, per ESPN research. That includes a last-ranked finish in 2024.
2020: 29th
2021: 30th
2022: 30th
2023: 27th
2024: 32nd
2025: 28th
It’s worth noting that PFF also has not graded the Bengals’ pass-blockers as particularly high since 2020, either. Here are their ranks (numbers include all protectors):
2020: 27th
2021: 29th
2022: 31st
2023: 22nd
2024: 29th
2025: 24th
Cincinnati’s inability to consistently pass block has resulted in Burrow being pressured frequently. Since his debut in 2020, only Russell Wilson (218 sacks) has been sacked more frequently than Burrow (201 sacks).
Meanwhile, Burrow’s 2.83 times sacked per game during his career ranks as the ninth-most in NFL history among quarterbacks with at least 50 games played, per StatMuse. Only three current NFL quarterbacks – Deshaun Watson, Justin Fields and Daniel Jones – have been sacked more frequently.
Below is a look at the full leaderboard.
Neil Lomax: 3.35
Deshaun Watson: 3.34
Randall Cunningham: 3.01
Justin Fields: 2.96
Daniel Jones: 2.92
Phil Simms: 2.91
David Carr: 2.84
Daunte Culpepper: 2.838
Joe Burrow: 2.83
Russell Wilson: 2.81
When it comes to quarterback sacks, it’s never good to be keeping company with the elder Carr brother, whose career was famously hindered by a porous offensive line that allowed him to be sacked a record 76 times as a rookie.
Nor is it good to be one of the three quarterbacks in NFL history, along with Warren Moon and Sam Darnold, to be sacked a record nine times in a playoff game.
And it’s worth noting these sacks are happening despite Burrow having a relatively quick time to throw. He got the ball out of his hands in an average of 2.55 seconds last season, good for 32nd-longest among 47 quarterbacks to play at least 100 plays last season, per Sumer Sports.
How Bengals have tried to fix offensive line
The Bengals have long known about the issues plaguing their offensive line. During Burrow’s six seasons with the team, Cincinnati has routinely tried to revamp the position with major free agent signings and draft picks.
Notably, the Bengals signed current left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. as a big-ticket free agent. They gave the former Kansas City Chiefs left tackle a four-year, $64 million contract to man the position in Cincinnati, hoping he would prove to be an upgrade over Jonah Williams.
In his first two seasons after signing with the Bengals, Brown graded as Pro Football Focus’ 45th tackle (of 81 qualifiers) in 2023 and its 66th (of 81 qualifiers) in 2024. He has performed better to start the 2025 season, improved to a ranking of 15th out of 66, but is responsible for two of the Bengals’ sacks surrendered.
The Bengals have seen a similar trajectory from right tackle Amarius Mims, who was a first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He graded as PFF’s 65th tackle of 81 qualifiers in 2024 and presently ranks 60th out of 66 for the 2025 season.
The same tale can be told about many of the Bengals’ offensive line investments during Burrow’s career. With the exception of center Ted Karras, few of the team’s free agent acquisitions have made a consistent, positive impact along the line.
Among their draft picks, the Bengals have only selected seven since choosing Burrow in the 2020 NFL Draft. All those drafted before 2024 – Jackson Carman, D’Ante Smith, Trey Hill and Cordell Volson – are no longer with the team.
Despite these shortcomings, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin remained confident the unit would figure things out in 2025 even as it sought improvement.
‘(The guards) can get better, but we put a lot of stress on them because we throw the ball a lot and there’s a lot of really good defensive tackles in this league,’ Tobin said in February, per the Bengals’ official website. ‘There are some improvements that can be made. I’ll be really curious to see how the new line coach jells with developing a couple of the younger guys we have. We’ll add to the group.
‘We have a darn good offense. People complain about our offense. The offensive line is half of our offense, and our offense produces points. And we produce points at a high level in the league. So you can tell me half of our offense is bad but yet is still at the top of the league? I don’t believe you. Can we get better in spots? Yes. But I don’t accept the fact we’re grossly flawed there.’
Perhaps Tobin’s optimism will eventually prove warranted if Brown continues to play at a higher level and recent draft picks like Mims and rookie guard Dylan Fairchild can improve as the season progresses.
But after Burrow was sacked five times in six quarters of action and lost for three months to an injury, it’s fair to wonder whether Tobin is feeling differently about Cincinnati’s offensive line.