Its a classic football precept: Great teams build up front. Its not quite true -- lets be honest, the best thing you can have is a good quarterback -- but good blocking is an important part of a strong NFL offense. The skill players get the headlines and the fantasy football numbers, but offensive linemen break open those big holes for your running backs and keep your quarterback upright so he can throw deep.On the other hand, when the offensive line is bad, even the best quarterbacks and running backs can struggle to be effective. That has been a big problem for the two teams playing Thursday night, the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks. The Rams young blockers are so poor at opening running lanes that the teams talented running back,?Todd Gurley, is averaging just 3.3 yards per carry. Seattle has struggled to protect Russell Wilson for years, which neutered the Seahawks offense at midseason when an ankle injury cost Wilson his mobility.NFL stats are imperfect, and offensive line metrics even more so. Rushing stats are distorted by long runs where the blocking didnt matter after the first few yards. Passing stats are distorted by the fact that some quarterbacks are simply more sack-prone than others. Nonetheless, we do have some metrics that will give us a good idea of which lines have done the most or least to help their teams this season.To measure the best and worst lines of 2016, I averaged each teams rank in five categories:1. Adjusted line yards (ALY): A Football Outsiders metric that splits value between the blocking and the back based on the length of the run, adjusted for situation and opponent. 2. Stuffed rate: How often running backs are stuffed for a loss or no gain, the most blocking-dependent part of ALY. 3. Adjusted sack rate (ASR):?Sacks (and intentional groundings) per pass play, adjusted for situation and opponent. 4. Pressure rate:?How often the quarterback is under duress, including sacks and hurries, according to ESPN Stats & Information charting. 5. Penalties: per game by offensive linemen (including declined and offsetting).Adjusted line yards were weighted at 150 percent, while penalties were weighted at just 50 percent. Further explanation of the first three categories, with updated numbers, can be found here.There are a couple of big surprises from these metrics. One of the Thursday night teams doesnt rank near the bottom of the league. And even more surprising, Dallas does not rank at the top of the league. Of course, one set of numbers does not prove the Cowboys dont have the most productive line in the league. It does, however, suggest were not doing enough to recognize the lines that rank ahead of them.If youre curious about how all the teams stack up, I put a table ranking them from 1-32 after write-ups for the five best and worst offensive lines.THE TOP FIVE1.?New Orleans SaintsThe Saints are sixth in offensive DVOA, and the offensive line is a big reason why. Its a bit of a surprising performance from a group of players who arent too well-known. Left tackle Terron Armstead has missed half the season with injuries, forcing 2015 first-round pick Andrus Peat to rotate between left tackle and left guard. Most observers thought veteran Jahri Evans looked over the hill when he couldnt make the Seattle roster in preseason, but he returned to the Saints and slotted right back into his old right guard spot. Right tackle Zach Strief has developed into a strong run-blocker but has yet to make a Pro Bowl. Center Max Unger, who came over from Seattle in the Jimmy Graham trade, completes the starting five.The Saints are dead last in pressure allowed, according to ESPN Stats & Info charting, and they are fifth in adjusted sack rate. Sure, part of the reason the Saints do so well in pass-blocking metrics is that Drew Brees is so good at avoiding sacks and doesnt run into his own pressure. But that doesnt explain why the Saints lead the league in adjusted line yards, or why theyve had runners stuffed for a loss or no gain only 14 percent of the time. New Orleans is even tied for the fewest number of penalties by offensive linemen (24). NGolo Kante Chelsea Jersey . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. Callum Hudson-Odoi Jersey .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. http://www.chelseafcproshop.com/Kids-Davide-Zappacosta-Jersey/ . Inter president Erick Thohir says in a club statement on Wednesday that Vidic is "one of the worlds best defenders and his qualities, international pedigree, and charisma will be an asset. Andreas Christensen Jersey . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. Cesc Fabregas Jersey . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. MARINA BAY, Singapore -- Kimi Raikkonen says his Ferraris lack of overall grip was to blame for the 0.956s gap to Nico Rosbergs Mercedes on pole position during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.At the same race last year, Ferraris Sebastian Vettel held a 1.4s gap over the fastest Mercedes, but this year that advantage had swung back in favour of the world champions. Raikkonen said it is obvious what Ferrari is lacking compared to Mercedes.I dont really care what the gap is right now -- we are fifth and weve seen that before in some races and in some races not, he said. Theyve been strong here and unfortunately this is what weve got today.The car was behaving pretty decently, apart from obviously lacking a bit of grip overall. But there werent issues that we could have fixed to suddenly go faster, apart from adding overall grip.The first lap in Q3 was a good lap and I knew I had to try a bit too much to go faster in the second lap and itt didnt pay off.dddddddddddd This is where you ended up.The Red Bulls completed Q2 on the super-soft tyres, meaning they will start the race on those tyres while the rest of the top ten will start on the ultra-softs. Raikkonen, who starts the race from fifth behind both Mercedes and both Red Bulls, said Ferrari considered the strategy but believes it will be a better approach to start on the ultra-softs.Obviously all of us had the chance to do that but we all do what we think is the best for our cars and our teams. How it will pan out tomorrow, well see, I have no idea and Im not really interested on how they will run it.We have to do our maximum and hopefully it will pay off in a good way. Its going to be a long race and a lot usually happens, so we have to right with the timings and hopefully we gain some places. ' ' '