The Bengals offensive line has routinely been one of the best in football over Marvin Lewis' tenure, so it's no surprise that trend continued in 2014.
Pro Football Focus put out their pass-blocking efficiency ratings, which account for sacks, hurries, and QB hits surrendered relative to the number of pass protection snaps. The Bengals' line came in at No. 3 for the regular season with an 85.0 rating, a mere 0.1 points behind Green Bay in the No. 2 slot:
# | Team | Passing Plays | Sacks | Hits | Hurries | Total Pressure Allowed | PBE |
1 | DEN | 626 | 12 | 25 | 74 | 111 | 86.2 |
2 | GB | 595 | 18 | 18 | 76 | 112 | 85.1 |
3 | CIN | 546 | 12 | 22 | 71 | 104 | 85.0 |
4 | BLT | 583 | 13 | 21 | 83 | 117 | 84.4 |
5 | DAL | 518 | 9 | 17 | 81 | 107 | 84.1 |
Not only that, but the 104 total pressures Cincinnati allowed were the fewest of any NFL team.
Here's a look at the rankings for teams that made the postseason:
# | Team | Passing Plays | PBE |
1 | DEN | 626 | 86.2 |
2 | GB | 595 | 85.1 |
3 | CIN | 546 | 85.0 |
4 | BLT | 583 | 84.4 |
5 | DAL | 518 | 84.1 |
7 | PIT | 651 | 82.3 |
16 | DET | 664 | 79.4 |
18 | ARZ | 611 | 78.8 |
20 | NE | 647 | 78.5 |
21 | IND | 726 | 78.2 |
23 | SEA | 548 | 77.7 |
26 | CAR | 623 | 77.0 |
The common theme is that playoff teams tend to have a rating of at least 80, and each of the top-five teams made it to the playoffs However, both New England and Seattle bucked that trend by reaching the Super Bowl with 78.5 and 77.7 ratings respectively.
While it's clear a dominant offensive line greatly increases the odds of making it to the playoffs, it's obvious that you can not only win in the playoffs without one, but make a deep postseason run as well.
For the mathematically inclined, the PBE formula looks like this:
(1– ((Sacks + (0.75*(Hits + Hurries))/ Pass Blocking Snaps))*100 = PBE Rating