Watching the Cardinals-Broncos game last night, you couldn't help but think, wow, that's a bad offensive line the Cardinals have. And indeed: they have a poor pair of tackles, they lost their starting center to a torn ACL in the preseason, and now both their guards are hurt. One of many issues for David Johnson.
Mike Iupati (back) wasn't active, and Justin Pugh (hand) was active but didn't play -- either he was only available in an emergency, or they didn't have enough inactive spots. Whatever, combined with their other issues, the Cardinals now slip to the very bottom of our OL rankings.
In the same game, the Broncos have been going without Jared Veldheer (knee). It didn't hurt them against the Cardinals, and he's got some extra time to possibly return for the next game. Denver's slip this week is mainly due to losing Ronald Leary to a torn Achilles, putting Max Garcia in that spot -- a steep downgrade. Very impressive the way the Broncos have been able to run the ball with this line, but let's see how it works out going forward, with no Leary and better run defenses ahead.
Matt Kalil (knee) has been on IR for the Panthers. He's eligible to return in Week 9, and although he hasn't yet been cleared to practice, there's no indication he won't be back for then. Carolina's line will climb some in our rankings when that happens.
Ravens guard Alex Lewis has a neck injury. He's a below-average guard, but the team will presumably be worse off with his backup, Bradley Bozeman.
- Rams lost Rodger Saffold to a knee injury against the Broncos; not yet known how significant. Lucky for the Rams they can plug in Jamon Brown, a starter last year but replaced in the lineup by Austin Blythe. Undefeated and with excellent depth, that's the Rams.
Updated rankings are below.
| OFFENSIVE LINE RANKINGS | |
|---|---|
| Rk | Team |
| 1 | New Orleans |
| 2 | LA Rams |
| 3 | Pittsburgh |
| 4 | Philadelphia |
| 5 | LA Chargers |
| 6 | Dallas |
| 7 | New England |
| 8 | Atlanta |
| 9 | Green Bay |
| 10 | Jacksonville |
| 11 | Washington |
| 12 | Kansas City |
| 13 | Tennessee |
| 14 | Baltimore |
| 15 | San Francisco |
| 16 | Chicago |
| 17 | Minnesota |
| 18 | Tampa Bay |
| 19 | Detroit |
| 20 | Seattle |
| 21 | Carolina |
| 22 | Indianapolis |
| 23 | Oakland |
| 24 | Cincinnati |
| 25 | NY Jets |
| 26 | Cleveland |
| 27 | Miami |
| 28 | Denver |
| 29 | NY Giants |
| 30 | Houston |
| 31 | Buffalo |
| 32 | Arizona |