Watching last night's Eagles-Packers game, where Jordan Howard made those of us who dismissed him as a barely functional slug in the preseason look bad, it struck me that a great offensive line can make an ordinary player look really good. And the Eagles have a great line.
In the same game, Miles Sanders had a huge hole for what would have been a long (probably) touchdown run, but didn't recognize it and got only a short gain. But Sanders otherwise looked pretty good and finished with good numbers. The Eagles ground game looked like a liability the first couple of games, but part of that was not committing to it. Last night they did, and it paid off with an upset of the Packers at Lambeau. Impressive.
To his credit, Howard knows the score. "I credit the offensive line," he said. "They did a great job. They made it easy for me. The holes were there and I just took them."
The Eagles have our top line, and New Orleans, Dallas, the Colts and Pittsburgh round out the top 5. Pittsburgh is winless, and James Conner has mostly struggled. But it's hard to look at the line and say this guy is a liability. Maybe it's just that they've lost coach Mike Munchak, their OL coach the last five years, and the new system is flawed. Whatever the case, Pittsburgh has slipped a couple of spots since the start of the season -- and it might not be far enough.
Offensive line rankings are below. Colorful table showing how each player is graded can be seen at our Facebook page at this link.
OFFENSIVE LINES | |
---|---|
Rk | Team |
1 | Philadelphia |
2 | New Orleans |
3 | Dallas |
4 | Indianapolis |
5 | Pittsburgh |
6 | Green Bay |
7 | Kansas City |
8 | Seattle |
9 | Chicago |
10 | Atlanta |
11 | LA Rams |
12 | New England |
13 | Buffalo |
14 | Tennessee |
15 | Jacksonville |
16 | Tampa Bay |
17 | Carolina |
18 | Detroit |
19 | Houston |
20 | San Francisco |
21 | NY Jets |
22 | LA Chargers |
23 | Cleveland |
24 | Oakland |
25 | Washington |
26 | Baltimore |
27 | Denver |
28 | Minnesota |
29 | NY Giants |
30 | Cincinnati |
31 | Arizona |
32 | Miami |
--Andy Richardson