The Cincinnati Bengals' offensive plan since the start of the Joe Burrow era has been plain and simple. It's a pass-heavy scheme, which relies on Burrow to create explosive plays and keep the chains moving.
It has, on the whole, worked very well, but that tends to be down to Burrow's elite production rather than the scheme itself helping out the former Heisman winner.
Burrow tends to line up in the shotgun more than any other quarterback in the NFL, which also means that he doesn't spend much of his time under-center. In the past three seasons, the Bengals have ranked 30th, 30th and 31st for percentage of plays under center, and have only been in the top 16 just once in the Burrow era (that was in 2021).
Joe Burrow determined to get the explosiveness back into Bengals' offense
There's no doubting that this Bengals offense is explosive, but much of that comes down to individuals, with Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase carrying the team on their backs a lot of the time. However, this season, it seems that the Bengals are working to create more explosiveness from other areas.
Burrow recently said in a press conference, that the Bengals are looking for more in the run game, and could potentially gain pass production off the back of that, too.
"We're trying to find ways to be explosive in the run game, and then try and find some things off of that, that can get us some easy explosives."Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals may go under center more than ever before in Joe Burrow era
Going back to the lack of under-center plays, this seems to be where the Bengals are placing their focus. In a recent article for The Athletic, writer Paul Dehner Jr. evaluated how Cincinnati plan to gain more explosiveness by placing Burrow under-center more, and utilising play action plays, coupled with (hopefully) an improved rushing attack.
Successful NFL teams had their QB under-center much more often in 2025, and the Bengals found themselves behind on that. Dehner wrote the following on how going under center tends to produce the highest rate of chunk plays:
"The top five teams in usage of under-center and under-center play action last year all finished in the top quarter of the NFL in explosive-play rate. Six of those eight made the playoffs. Three were playing conference championship weekend, including both Super Bowl participants."
"NFL teams over the last three seasons have produced 1,499 explosive completions while using under-center play action. Joe Burrow produced one."Paul Dehner Jr, The Athletic
Play action could be a game-changer for the Bengals offense, but they need to pull it off
It's no secret in the NFL that play-action passes can produce big, explosive plays. If a defense is focused on a potential running play, it opens up a lot more space for the wide receivers and time for the quarterback to produce a big play. The thought of that, with Burrow throwing to Chase and Tee Higgins is something to get excited about.
However, this big plan for the Bengals offense will only really work if they ensure the run game is strong enough. Based on the past few years, that's got to be the biggest focus. The Bengals were 29th in terms of rushing yards per game in 2025, which shows there is massive room for improvement.
The plan to have Burrow under-center, and therefore deploying play action more, will only work with a competent run game. If the Bengals can produce a rushing attack that defenses have to be wary of, that could free Burrow, Chase and Higgins up to explode.
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