I watched this week's game with adult beverages and friends, so I've got to admit that I didn't take the kind of notes about the offensive line that are necessary to say anything truly insightful. What I do know is that we've only yielded 2 sacks in our first 2 games, and are 2nd in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 195.
I'll start by giving props to Marvel Smith for his fine work against Aaron Schobel. With Alan Faneca playing beside him on the left side, that's a pretty good combo if Smith can keep it up and continue to improve. Sure Faneca may not be as dominant as he was when he was in his absolute physical prime, but it's not as if he's going to lose his intelligence of the game and understanding of assignments. He's not quite the same mauler in the running game, but there's very few, if any other, guards I'd rather have.
Marvel and Alan have Ben's back on the left side
Sean Mahan needs to get better (it was pointed out that he missed several blocks on Sunday), but neither Mahan, Kendall Simmons or Willie Colon made any serious blunders on Sunday.
Ben was given sufficient time to throw all afternoon, and running lanes were open for 4 quarters. So, for that effort, I can't see any reason not to give the unit an...
Grade: A-
P.S. Please chime in if you had any deeper observations than the one's I provided. Like I said, I didn't watch this facet of the game this week as closely as I should have.