Week 9 O-Line Report
Week 9 O-Line Report: Atlanta Protects, the Rams and Bills Clear the Runway
The 32-team scorecard
The verified inputs appear below.
| Team | Pass protection | Run-block win rate | YBC per RB rush |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Cardinals | NP | 29th, 71% | NP |
| Atlanta Falcons | 1st | NP | 0.8 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 18th | 19th, 73% | 1.0 |
| Carolina Panthers | 29th | 30th, 70% | NP |
| Chicago Bears | NP | NP | NP |
| Cincinnati Bengals | NP | 5th, 75% | NP |
| Cleveland Browns | 32nd | NP | NP |
| Dallas Cowboys | NP | 31st, 69% | NP |
| Denver Broncos | NP | NP | NP |
| Detroit Lions | 5th | NP | NP |
| Green Bay Packers | NP | NP | 0.7 |
| Houston Texans | NP | NP | NP |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 12th | 12th, 74% | 0.7 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | NP | NP | 1.5 |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 30th | NP | NP |
| Los Angeles Rams | 3rd | 1st, 77% | 1.9 |
| Las Vegas Raiders | NP | NP | 0.7 |
| Miami Dolphins | 28th | NP | NP |
| Minnesota Vikings | NP | 4th, 76% | 1.5 |
| New England Patriots | NP | 3rd, 76% | NP |
| New Orleans Saints | NP | NP | 0.8 |
| New York Giants | NP | NP | NP |
| New York Jets | NP | NP | NP |
| Philadelphia Eagles | NP | NP | 0.7 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | NP | NP | NP |
| Seattle Seahawks | 31st | 28th, 71% | 0.7 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 2nd | 6th, 75% | 1.7 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | NP | NP | NP |
| Tennessee Titans | NP | NP | NP |
| Washington Commanders | NP | 32nd, 68% | NP |
That separation matters because a blocker can lose without allowing a sack, while a quarterback can turn a manageable pressure into one. The InnerPulse rankings account for both.
Run-block win rate asks whether the line won its tracked assignments. Yards before contact asks what those wins produced. Neither measure isolates pull timing, hand placement, leverage, defensive boxes, or runner vision, so a serious line grade needs both data and film.
Atlanta Falcons
The first block is holding up. Some later downs still end badly.
The run data creates a second split. That figure doesn’t prove the line is losing every assignment; it says the blocks, scheme, defensive fronts, and runner decisions haven’t combined to create early space.
Fantasy call: Bijan Robinson remains a start on talent and workload, but the line data doesn’t support projecting easy rushing lanes. Michael Penix Jr. and the Atlanta receivers get the clearer line-driven benefit because the pocket usually survives the first rush.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams have the cleanest verified profile in the packet: third in pass protection, first in run-block win rate at 77%, and second in yards before contact at 1.9.
That pairing means the run-game wins are producing displacement. A guard can technically complete an assignment by staying attached to his defender, but the back still needs the block to move that defender off the track. Los Angeles is winning the assignment and creating room behind it.
Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua also benefit from a front that ranks among the top three in pass protection. No correction is needed here. The line supports the obvious starts.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills are giving their backs more room before first contact than any other team in the supplied data.
The line isn’t merely walling defenders off. That YBC figure indicates usable movement at the point of attack, whether it comes from a clean reach block, a well-timed pull, or the double team reaching the second level. The public data doesn’t divide those techniques, but the result is visible.
Fantasy call: Josh Allen’s protection remains a positive, and James Cook III gets the best verified combination of assignment wins and early rushing space.
San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco has allowed seven sacks, the fewest in the league, with a 3.0% sack rate. The 49ers rank second in pass protection, sixth in run-block win rate at 75%, and third in yards before contact at 1.7.
Those measures fit together. The line keeps the pocket from collapsing, wins three-quarters of its tracked run assignments, and gives the back room before contact. Scheme helps, particularly when motion changes a defender’s fit before the snap, but the blocker still has to reach the correct shoulder and hold leverage once the ball moves.
Fantasy call: Brock Purdy gets one of the safest line environments on the board. Christian McCaffrey’s weekly value needs no sales pitch, though the blocking numbers give the rushing projection real support rather than treating every yard as something he has to manufacture himself.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville enters Thursday ranked 12th in pass protection.
The run numbers are stranger. Jacksonville ranks 12th in run-block win rate at 74%, yet sits in the lowest yards-before-contact tier at 0.7. The blockers are receiving credit for a respectable share of their assignments, but those wins aren’t creating runway. Some wins may be positional rather than forceful, with the defender reached or sealed without being displaced far enough to open the track.
Four starting positions are settled. Walker Little has replaced Anton Harrison, who is on injured reserve with a knee injury, while Emmanuel Pregnon, Robert Hainsey, and Cole Van Lanen carry no injury designation. Ezra Cleveland is questionable with an ankle injury at right guard. Wyatt Milum, who handled most of the position after Cleveland left Week 8, is the direct replacement. Patrick Mekari remains on injured reserve with a back injury.
Fantasy call: Trevor Lawrence gets the more favorable half of Jacksonville’s line profile. The running game carries greater efficiency risk because a 74% assignment-win rate has produced only 0.7 yards before contact.
Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore and Jacksonville have produced nearly the same pressure frequency, 20.2% and 20.4%, respectively. Baltimore has allowed 22 sacks to Jacksonville’s 13 because its sack rate sits at 8.2%. Five sacks were attributed to the quarterback and 17 to the blocking, according to the InnerPulse protection table.
The Week 9 personnel picture adds strain. Roger Rosengarten is questionable with an ankle injury; Carson Vinson is available behind him. Ronnie Stanley and Cam Jurgens carry no injury designation.
Jurgens has settled the center position after Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn, and Ethan Pocic went to injured reserve. That stability matters because the center sets the protection, identifies interior threats, and coordinates combination blocks. It doesn’t solve the uncertainty at both guard and tackle.
Baltimore allowed 15 pressures and 12 quarterback hits against Buffalo, with four starters receiving pass-blocking grades below 62, according to the Ravens’ Week 8 review. The line also ranks 19th in run-block win rate at 73% and produces 1.0 yards before contact.
Seattle Seahawks
Seattle ranks 31st in pass protection with a 28.1% pressure rate and 19 sacks allowed. The run game offers no shelter: 28th in run-block win rate at 71%, with 0.7 yards before contact.
Quenton Nelson moved from Indianapolis to Seattle this week. His arrival may change the interior, but the packet doesn’t establish his Week 9 role, assignment load, or snap count. A guard joining midweek has to learn the calls and the line’s answers to fronts, twists, and pressure. Name recognition can’t make five players communicate on the same count.
Fantasy call: Sam Darnold gets a clear line-driven downgrade, while Zach Charbonnet needs volume to overcome limited space before contact. Jaxon Smith-Njigba can win quickly enough to survive some protection failures, but deeper routes carry more risk when pressure arrives on 28.1% of dropbacks.
Cleveland Browns
Cleveland ranks last in pass protection, though its 25.4% pressure rate is only 27th. The outlier is what happens after pressure arrives: a league-worst 10.7% sack rate and 33 sacks allowed. The protection chart assigns 28 sacks to blocking failures and five to the quarterback.
That attribution explains the gap. Cleveland isn’t facing the league’s highest pressure rate, but its losses are severe enough to finish plays. A tackle who loses the edge late may allow pressure without destroying the down. A clean loss at the snap leaves no recovery angle.
Fantasy call: Quinshon Judkins can be started for workload, though the supplied data doesn’t support a line-based efficiency boost. When 28 sacks belong to the blocking, the passing game can’t solve the problem with a quicker internal clock alone.
ZeroChalk is not affiliated with the NFL, NFL teams, or the NFLPA. Injury and role calls are best-guess reads from public practice and camp reporting, not inside information.