The Cincinnati Bengals spent most of training camp trying to get better at playing an under-center offense.
Somehow, all that preparation actually made them worse.
The Bengals are currently dead last in the entire league when under center. They are averaging just 3.3 yards per game from under center. For comparison, they averaged 5.1 yards per play from under-center in the 2025 season.
Their running game hasn’t been effective, Joe Burrow generally doesn’t look comfortable having to run play-action passes, and they’re under center at a 54% higher rate than last season. All of that adds up to a more ineffective offense than we’ve seen from Cincinnati in the past.
At what point did the Bengals decide to completely scrap the under-center unless they had a lead late in the game? To me, it looks like we’re getting closer to seeing that happen. If anything, I want the Bengals to incorporate some up-tempo offense earlier in the game. This team is built to play with a lead. They have a pass rush now to get after quarterbacks, and everything under center should be more effective when you have a lead to play with.
In theory, the under-center should help your offense be more effective. It should open up play-action, and it should help prevent your quarterback from throwing the ball 54 times a game.
Honestly, it doesn’t really help this team. They were prevented from getting early leads, the run game was more chaotic than the shotgun, and Joe Burrow was at his best when he could see everything in front of him directly off the snap.
The Bengals play in Miami this week and are looking to get back into the winning column. If they try to keep going under-center, they might just give Miami the confidence they need to get their first win of the season.
Regardless of the outcome of that game, the Bengals will need to seriously scout themselves during the bye week on what type of offense they plan to run moving forward. Right now, I don’t know why they keep trying to beat a dead horse by using more of an under-center offense that just doesn’t work.