A Cincinnati Bengals offensive line that stayed fairly healthy all season has caught the injury bug.
After losing right guard Alex Cappa in Sunday's regular season finale victory over Baltimore, the Bengals could now be without two of their offensive line starters this week. Right tackle La'el Collins is already out for the rest of the year on the injured reserve after tearing his ACL against New England.
The right side of the offensive line is in deep, deep trouble.
Assuming Cappa isn't good to go for the Bengals' Wild Card round rematch with the Ravens on Sunday, backup Max Scharping will get the nod. He had 33 career starts with the Houston Texans before being picked up off of waivers before the start of this season. Hakeem Adeniji will continue filling in for Collins, meanwhile.
Quite a challenge for the Bengals as quarterback Joe Burrow will need all the protection in the world against a Ravens defense that will be as stout as it was even on Sunday. Could this be a repeat of Burrow's playoff horrors last year when he was sacked left and right?
More importantly, Burrow will have to make sure that his offense's performance in the second half against Baltimore was just simply a fluke. If not, the upset-minded Ravens might try to have a chance to play spoiler this Sunday night.
Speaking of which, the offseason hasn't arrived, yet, but there's already five head coaching vacancies across the league that could turn into six. Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo might be in the mix for either of those jobs. How realistic is that?
The Strictly Stripes crew sets up the big stage for the Bengals as they look to begin their journey of running back the AFC crown through another challenging postseason. They also explain how dire the situation for the Bengals' offensive line and debate whether Callahan or Anarumo are really in the mix for any head coaching jobs.
This podcast features Mohammad Ahmad, Andrew Gillis and Michael Niziolek.
Music: Starfields by Hallman
Music Link: https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/nQ9ldbVF7D/
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