Joe Burrow at center gives the Cincinnati Bengals offense a newfound means of victory.
Before the start of the season, Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor expected the Bengals’ offense would make significant scheme changes over the course of the year.
“We’ve been an offense that’s been willing to evolve after certain games or stretches where maybe we’re not as effective as we wanted to be,” Taylor said in September. “When we need to make some changes to be more productive, that’s not something we ever shy away from.”/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/SDVOYZ3BTFEWNFMPRJRQUBBJUE.jpg)
But just two months ago, no one would have predicted the form the offense would take in the first quarter of Sunday’s 31-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Over the Bengals’ previous 23 games, the Bengals avoided having quarterback Joe Burrow line up under center at all costs. When lined up under center, the run wasn’t as productive, Burrow wasn’t reading the defense as well and the offense was predictable to opposing defenses.
Plays under center help the Bengals’ offense.
The Bengals coaching staff then made the decision to include more under-center ideas into the game plan for the first time in more than a calendar year during this year’s bye week. As a result, the 49ers were caught off guard and allowed two touchdown drives in the first quarter, which set the stage for a game that would define the season.
The Bengals gained five significant gains on under-center plays—which the team hasn’t really run since September 2022—on their first two drives.
“Our guys performed a fantastic job executing the few things we felt we could do to attack them,” Taylor remarked. “We kind of had a variation of things that we could do there—that’s a fun word I haven’t used yet up here.”
Complimentary offense drives Bengals’ win
Their second under-center play of the game was a toss to running back Joe Mixon, which was whistled dead due to a neutral zone infraction by the 49ers. Before Burrow snapped the ball on that play, wide receiver Tyler Boyd motioned into the backfield on a fake end around to help open up space for Mixon.
Two plays later, Boyd ran the same motion. When the 49ers defense rolled to the right side of the field, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase cut toward the middle of the field on a deep in-breaking route. He had a few steps on the safety and was wide open for a 15-yard gain.
On the following drive, the Bengals had Boyd run a similar in-breaking route, but this time the ball went to Mixon on a screen. Then, the Bengals went back to the toss to Mixon for a 5-yard pickup. One play later, they handed the ball to Boyd on the end around for a 6-yard gain and a first down.
During those first two drives, the Bengals gave the 49ers a fresh wrinkle every time they believed they knew what was coming. Gains of five, six, eleven, and fifteen yards were the outcome, along with a 14–7 lead. The Bengals gained 73 total yards on Burrow’s five under-center completions against the 49ers.
Bengals center Ted Karras stated, “This offense’s fluidity is what makes it so cool.” We set up an offense, but a lot of the guidelines are subject to alter every week. Changes are constantly made. That is definitely a benefit. It’s very unusual.
It is imperative that quarterback Joe Burrow recovers.
Until this week, the Bengals would not have thought of running these plays. Burrow’s pre-practice routine included no under-center snaps. The Bengals offense looked different early in the game thanks to these plays, but for the most part of the remainder of the contest, they played mostly as they typically do.
The Bengals returned to playing shotgun in the second and third quarters, having executed six under-center plays on their opening two drives. They used up all of their remaining under-center plays in the fourth quarter as they were running out of time.
It is imperative that quarterback Joe Burrow recovers.
Until this week, the Bengals would not have thought of running these plays. Burrow’s pre-practice routine included no under-center snaps. The Bengals offense looked different early in the game thanks to these plays, but for the most part of the remainder of the contest, they played mostly as they typically do.
The Bengals returned to playing shotgun in the second and third quarters, having executed six under-center plays on their opening two drives. They used up all of their remaining under-center plays in the fourth quarter as they were running out of time.
“I’ve been on a lot of teams where you enter thinking about your identity for the spring, and it changes during training camp or between the spring and training camp,” Taylor remarked. “You have one idea, but as the season progresses, something may end up being far better or worse than you had planned. We are really proud of our willingness to change as necessary.