Advertisement

Joey Bosa’s comments show Bengals might have a Bobby Hart problem

Chris Roling
·2 min read

The Week 1 performance by the Cincinanti Bengals offensive line in front of Joe Burrow wasn’t exactly a banner showing for the unit.

Burrow was often on the run, especially early against the Los Angeles Chargers pass rush, ultimately resulting in a loss.

And while guys like Mike Jordan had bright spots at times, Bobby Hart at right tackle notably stuck out as an issue.

It’s a little more concerning in hindsight, especially when realizing Chargers’ star Joey Bosa was in his post-game presser chuckling about the fact the Bengals left the right tackle alone with him at times, according to Gilbert Manzano of the Orange County Register.

“I was kinda expecting a lot of chips, back chips and some max protections, but I had to take advantage of my opportunities with the 1-on-1s,” Bosa said. “I think I did a good job, but yeah, they kinda left (Hart) on an island over there, but I’m not going to complain about that.”

Bosa also told Manzano he went after Hart after the whistle because the Bengals tackle had been talking trash. This one got backed up plenty on social media:

It’s hard to put this all on Hart (besides chirping at one of the best defenders in the NFL — that’s foolish). Bengals coaches seemingly didn’t do right by him, especially in the first half before things settled down.

Hart graded at a 63.9 PFF performance for his Week 1 showing, up slightly from his season-long grades of 57.1 in 2018 and 57.6 in 2019, a span in which he accounted for 16 sacks and 18 penalties.

It’s a little concerning Bengals coaches were content to put the struggling Hart on an island at all, let alone against Bosa while trying to protect the new face of their franchise. Maybe some of it falls on the quarterback too, but the task doesn’t get easier with Myles Garrett up next.

Rolling more help to Hart’s side, at the very least, is probably something the coaches should be prioritizing ahead of Thursday’s game.