First of all, I haven't heard a single person who ever said that the line has improved this year.
This is my evaluation, which I had mentioned before:
Duane Brown was good for the first two third of the season, but tailed off down the stretch. Overall, he's about the same as the previous year or marginally better.
Wade Smith really had a down year; the difference in play here was quite big in both aspects of the offense, run and pass.
Myers also had a down year. In 2011, he had a great year; last year, it was at best average.
Briesiel was always underated. Caldwell, Jones, and Brooks were all wildly inconsistent. The diminishing in play might be the most pronounced at this spot.
There was also a drop-off at RT as well, but the difference here was not as pronounced as at the two guard spots.
It might be less of a problem than the Center spot as well (if we're talking about the difference between the two years.)
In 2011, Myers' play was great; last year, it was below average.
In 2011, the RT's play was just above average; last year, it was slightly below average or average.
I rewatched 4 games (Titans second game, Vikings - two games in which Foster went nowhere) and the two play-off games using the condensed format from NFL Game Rewind (plays start when the two teams are ready to go, no commercial, no time-out, no huddle) and Newton's play was quite encouraging.
(I also look at the end zone view from one of the All-22 cameras to check out all the runs for fewer than 3 yards and the incompletions + interceptions.)
Winston would have been at best a stalemate in these games as compared to the combo of Newton and Harris.
Harris was an unsung hero of sort. IMO, his overall play for the whole season was slightly better than Winston in 2011; however, we simply don't know if he can hold up if asked to play full-time.