Amarius Mims has already done the part that keeps Joe Burrow upright. The Bengals’ right tackle has been airtight in pass protection, and the numbers keep backing up the eye test. But if Cincinnati wants a real run game - not just a passing offense with a running back attached - Mims has to become a force when the play is on the ground, too.
That need was impossible to ignore after the Bengals managed just 15 rushes for 23 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Some of the heat landed on Chase Brown, whose first touch of the day ended with safety Antonio Johnson dumping him for minus-5 yards.
But the bigger issue starts up front. Just as protecting Burrow depends on more than one lineman, opening lanes for Brown or any other back begins with the offensive line, and this season that line begins with Mims.
The pass-blocking work has been spotless. Against Jacksonville, Mims did not allow a pressure on 58 dropbacks, according to @NextGenStats.
Pro Football Focus had already said he hadn’t given up a pressure in 118 pass-block snaps, with the next closest at 80. Put that together, and Mims has gone 176 consecutive pass-blocking snaps without allowing a pressure.
Pro Football Network has him at a 0.0% pressure rate.
That kind of trajectory fits what Mims showed late last season. Bradley Locker of PFF wrote, “Mims really hit his stride in the second half of 2025, earning an 81.0 overall grade from Weeks 12-18. In those seven weeks, Mims didn’t give up a sack and produced a 76.6 PFF run-blocking score.”
The early part of 2026 has carried over the pass-protection momentum, but not the run-blocking part. And that’s where the problem sits.
PFF has Mims ranked second in pass-block grades, yet only 27th among 69 qualified tackles overall. The drag on that ranking is his work in the run game, where he sits 59th out of 69 tackles.
That split matters. Mims finished the 2026 season with a run-block grade of 76.6, but this season he’s opened with a 50.9.
Two weeks into the year, he was below average in negatively graded run-blocking rates, and even behind Orlando Brown Jr. in that area. Brown (64), Dylan Fairchild (62.3), Karras (60.3), and Dalton Risner (71.2) all have better run-block grades than Cincinnati’s clearest offensive line standout, according to PFF.
That shouldn’t be the case for the Bengals’ best blocker. If Mims can bring his run game up to the level of his pass protection, the conversation around him changes fast. He’d be on the path to being the best tackle in football, which is exactly what Cincinnati needs from him.
It’s also what Chase Brown needs. It’s what Joe Burrow needs. And it’s what Zac Taylor needs as the de facto play caller, because the Bengals cannot keep treating the run game like an afterthought.
If Mims becomes as dominant in the run game as he already is in pass protection, he could be the one to set the tone for the entire line. Maybe then, on a critical 4th-and-1, he’d be the one saying, “run behind Dalton and me.”
And if Burrow keeps checking out of runs and into passes, maybe Mims eventually becomes the guy who checks Burrow - and maybe even Taylor.
In Other News...
Rex Ryan Just Sparked A New Bengals Debate Around Joe Burrow
The Bengals have been leaning on Joe Burrow and the passing game to carry the offense, and early in the season the running game has not done much to ease that load. It is the kind of imbalance that can work when the quarterback is humming, but it also puts extra pressure on the passing attack to stay sharp every week.
Rex Ryan recently put that familiar issue back in the spotlight, warning that a team built almost entirely around the pass can run into trouble if it never finds a steadier ground game. For Cincinnati, the concern is not whether Burrow can produce, but whether opponents will start selling out against the pass and force the Bengals to answer with a rushing attack that has not yet shown enough consistency. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Suddenly Have A Receiver Debate Fans Cant Ignore
The Bengals receiver room has suddenly become a talking point again, and not in the way they would prefer. With Tee Higgins and JaMarr Chase both dealing with injuries, Cincinnati is staring at a familiar problem at the exact moment the offense can least afford it, which is why the idea of adding another wideout has started circulating around the team.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is the name getting the most attention in that conversation, thanks to his talent and the kind of fit he would represent in Cincinnatis passing game. It is still only speculation, but the discussion says plenty about where the Bengals are right now: thin at receiver, under pressure to keep the offense afloat, and suddenly in the middle of a debate fans did not see coming. [Read more 🡒]
Former Bengals Star Sounds Alarm On A Problem Burrow Can't Escape
Through the first five weeks, the Bengals offense has been under a familiar kind of stress, and former receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh says the pressure is coming from a spot Cincinnati cannot afford to ignore. He pointed to opponents working the left side of the offensive line to get after Joe Burrow, a problem that has helped disrupt the rhythm of an attack that is still trying to find its footing.
Houshmandzadeh also flagged trouble covering tight ends and noted Burrows two interceptions as costly plays in a season where every mistake seems to carry extra weight. With Miami and Baltimore next on the schedule, the Bengals are staring at a stretch that will test whether those issues can be cleaned up quickly or whether they keep following Burrow from week to week. [Read more 🡒]