Is The Cincinnati Bengals’ Offense Transforming?

Don’t expect that to change in 2026; that trio will make up one of the league’s most lethal passing games once again.

But is it possible that we see a meaningful shift in how the Bengals go about picking apart opposing defenses?

Bengals Roll Out Under-Center Looks in Preseason

Beyond developing a reputation for simply dicing up secondaries, Burrow and company have also become known for almost exclusively operating out of shotgun.

In each of the last three years, Cincinnati has ranked top three in total shotgun snaps, per Fantasy Points Data. Last year, they led the league in that department, and a whopping 78.1% of their snaps came out of the shotgun.

As for why they’ve so heavily leaned on shotgun looks, Burrow has explicitly stated that he prefers to be in the gun so he can survey the field.

“I think I'm at my best when I'm in the shotgun and I can see everything that's going on and distribute the football,” he said ahead of the Bengals’ 2024 campaign.

While Cincinnati would like to have Burrow in situations in which he’s comfortable, there’s no doubt that the reliance on shotgun hampers the offense to a degree.

It makes the offensive looks somewhat predictable, it makes it more difficult to effectively and efficiently run the ball, and it’s meaningfully harder to pull off convincing play-action passes.

A shotgun-heavy offense just isn’t the optimal approach in 2026. It shows up in the numbers, too. 

The league’s best offenses these days are getting under center, giving defenses unpredictable looks and pummeling them with play-action.

The Los Angeles Rams (1st in scoring offense, 1st in EPA/play), Seattle Seahawks (3rd in scoring offense, 14th in EPA per play), and Buffalo Bills (4th in scoring offense, 3rd in EPA per play) made up the top three in terms of total under-center snaps last season.

It seems that Zac Taylor and the Bengals are taking notice of this trend and finally doing something about it.

Cincinnati just hit the field for its first snaps of preseason action, and the offense utilized under-center looks far more often than fans are accustomed to seeing.

Per NFL.com’s Kevin Patra, Burrow was under center for seven of the 13 snaps he played on Thursday night. On those plays, Taylor dialed up two passes, one of which was a strike from Burrow to Chase off play-action.

Obviously, it’s a small sample, but there’s no doubt this should be exciting for Bengals fans.

A more diverse, multiple offense could help this unit reach new heights. Play-action passes are the “cheat code” to generating explosive plays in today’s NFL, and if the Bengals can effectively pull off those plays, we could see a truly devastating offense.

Beyond that, this pivot could work wonders for Chase Brown and the ground game. Under-center runs are historically more effective than shotgun runs. 

If the Bengals can actually turn to the rushing attack to help win games, it’ll be a load lifted off Burrow’s shoulders.

Ultimately, it’ll all come down to execution. It seems that the philosophical shift is happening; we’ll have to wait and see if it actually works when the cleats hit the turf in the regular season.

If everything gels, it could be quite exciting for fans in Cincinnati.