Could Joe Burrow going under center unlock explosive plays? The Bengals are investigating

Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher didn’t flinch when he saw the chart posted on a screen during the conversation.

Why would he?

He didn’t just know these numbers; he’s living them.

The quest over the last six months to become more explosive dominated offensive conversations inside Paycor Stadium and in practice sessions on the fields across the street.

The reality of what’s happened across the league, in stark contrast to Cincinnati, can’t be avoided.

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.

“If you just look at the landscape of the league right now and how defenses have evolved, and if you truly are open to learning from your peers, it’s not hard to make the connection,” Pitcher said. “It kind of smacks you in the face.”

NFL teams over the last three seasons have produced 1,499 explosive completions while using under-center play action.

Joe Burrow produced one.

That’s right. One.

The number hits like another smack to the face.

It also sparked an interesting debate as the Bengals evolve the offense in 2026. A group returning nearly every coach and all 11 starters offers the benefit of a strong foundation.

For now, that might involve finally putting Burrow under center more often, something he’s rarely done during his seven-year career.

“We’re trying to find ways to be explosive in the run game and then try to find some things off of that that can get us a couple of easy explosives,” Burrow said. “We’re committed to that. Our coaching staff has done a great job this offseason of putting a plan together to try to execute that. So I’m excited to see how it works out.”

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You could see Burrow working on under-center play-action drops no matter the day during the Bengals’ offseason program.

He’s made clear behind the scenes that he’s on board with tinkering in this realm. He sees the same numbers everyone else does, he knows the trends, and he wants the explosives.

These portions of the playbook have always existed; they’ve just typically stayed there rather than reaching gameday.

“It’s what’s been effective,” Burrow said before offering a rundown of how defenses have changed their plan against the Bengals throughout his career.

It’s understandable, considering the Bengals’ superpower in the passing game. Let Burrow drop back and process the field better than any human on the planet; let Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins dominate with quick wins and enjoy the show.

That’s what the Bengals do best. Nobody responsible for the offense wants to change that. Nor should they. They posted 0.16 EPA per play on plays with Burrow, Higgins and Chase on the field the last two seasons — best in the NFL by a wide margin.

Those weren’t the numbers sparking debate and tinkering during the offseason program at Paycor Stadium, though.

That would be an offense that ranked 22nd in explosive play rate, a fourth consecutive season in the bottom third of the league. Despite all the weaponry and success, the Bengals have never touched the top 10 in explosives with Burrow.

That’s where the quarterback took time to outline his view of the journey.

“We were heavy under center in 2020, 2021, and that worked out well for us,” he said. “But then we were so explosive that we stopped getting the defenses that the under-center runs and the under-center play-actions were built for. And then (we) weren’t explosive in the run game when we faced those light box defenses.

“Then we transitioned to a gun team and our run game because of our RPOs and our quick game, basically. And the run game was kind of the icing on the cake because of that. And that was effective for a couple of years.”

The Bengals were one of the most efficient running teams in football in 2022 when moving to a duo, downhill run game up the middle with Joe Mixon, designed to take minimal losses and keep the passing downs manageable. So many teams were playing deep shells, scared of Higgins and Chase burning them over the top, that they gave up the run efficiency and shorter passing game to contain the deep ball.

“And then around 2024, we got so good at just picking people apart underneath and just marching the ball down the field that we started getting some more of the 2021 defenses,” Burrow said. “So now we have to get back to making people pay for playing that way against us. That will, in turn, then create that cycle again where we’re explosive, and teams play a certain kind of defense. And then we’ll be better equipped this time to be more explosive in the run game to try to take advantage of that.”

So many of these adjustments are merely finding ways to elicit a specific personnel type and defensive structure on the field. Going under center and finding success with the run and play action could do for the Bengals what it has for other teams, consistently putting linebackers in a bind while throwing over the top of them.

Leaguewide since 2020, UCPA plays have an explosive play rate of 19.4 percent. The explosive rate on all shotgun plays is 11.1 percent.

“If you are looking at, ‘How are we going to be a really explosive offense?’ the data would suggest you got to have a component of your offense that allows you to get under center and attack the defense.” Pitcher said. “Truthfully, yeah, I believe in what those numbers say, and we are going to have to explore that part of our offense.”

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Perhaps no active player has taken more under-center snaps in the NFL than Joe Flacco. He ranks 10th in all snaps by a quarterback this century, and the 41-year-old lived in an under-center system for over a decade with the Baltimore Ravens.

After spending the second half of last season around Burrow and experiencing the greatness of Higgins and Chase, he might be the most well-equipped player anywhere to dive into the existential question of how much the Bengals should go under center.

He started the conversation with a simple phrase that ties into every argument.

“You have to become good at what you do,” Flacco said.

For the Bengals offense, that goes back to the shotgun passing game, where Burrow and company are as good as anyone. That will always be their identity.

That’s also why they are spending so much time this offseason practicing the under-center portion of their playbook. Getting better at it will allow them to tap into under center when a game situation, opponent or their own injury issues make it the most favorable schematic weapon.

In Flacco’s mind, going this direction helps everyone on the field, specifically the offensive linemen.

“There’s a reason that has always been a part of the game,” Flacco said. “Obviously, the game evolves, but there is still base parts of the game that matter. On first and second down, if you can be a physical team and then play off of that physicality, it is going to help you get easy plays. The explosive plays are coming not because you are fighting an uphill battle all game but because you are finding ways to get easy chunks.”

Andrew Whitworth speculated during a conversation last year that playing offensive tackle in the Bengals’ system might be the hardest job in the NFL. You are asked to drop back in true pass sets at a higher rate than anyone. That sets up these diabolical defensive coordinators to unleash more disguises, simulated pressures and all the pass-rush tricks that fill offensive linemen’s nightmares.

Which brings up a critical element in Cincinnati. More under-center run plays would mean a smaller percentage of hits on Burrow.

The under-center game, simply firing off as if a run with the option to play action behind, counters all those tricks. It also makes everyone’s job easier, simplifying the game and becoming the aggressor.

“It’s allowing you to play fast,” Flacco said. “It’s allowing you to play physical without too much thought. When you get good players playing fast and physical, that is what football is about.”

Flacco sees those downs where you give guys a break and don’t have to be diagnosing disguises — whether linemen or quarterback or whoever — having a long-term effect over the course of a game, no matter how much a team excels in shotgun, third-down style pass plays.

“If you are trying to do that third-down-type atmosphere all the time, it can just bog you down a little bit,” Flacco said. “Whereas, you give your players some freedom to go up to the line and make a play, it’s very freeing.”

Just because a team goes under center on early downs doesn’t mean they automatically become the Rams or Patriots, spitting out explosive plays on repeat. The numbers show an obvious trend, but Flacco points out there is an underlying factor not illustrated in the rankings.

“There are 10 other teams that are trying to do what they are doing, but they aren’t as good at it, so they have to abandon it earlier,” Flacco said. “Now it doesn’t look like they do it as much. Well, they don’t do it as much. They are abandoning it because they are not as good at it.”

Which brings the debate back to his original point: “Become good at what you do.”

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Two players find themselves at the fulcrum of any potential shift in the amount of under-center the Bengals use this season: Erick All and Chase Brown.

The offense already morphed around All during his rookie year in 2024. The tight end’s physicality and versatility were weaponized as his role expanded and the Bengals found themselves motioning him into the fullback position, setting the edge with vicious crack blocks and overall serving as a hammer in front of Brown in the run game.

He tore his ACL, which required two surgeries, missed the second half of that season, all of the next and became the feel-good story of this offseason program as he works back from injury.

The idea of his full return makes all of this under-center plan more plausible. It would be playing to the strengths of the personnel. Without All, the Bengals don’t have a weapon with the same skill set to put at the tip of the play-action sword.

Then there’s Brown, whom Pitcher admits can thrive in whatever style of offense they want to play and has done so. He’s done it all en route to 2,806 scrimmage yards over the last two seasons combined. He’s developed great chemistry with Burrow running routes out of the backfield as much as he’s broken long runs between the tackles.

An interesting subset of his production, however, shows the success he has enjoyed when rushing with the quarterback under center on neutral downs.

Filtering for first and second downs in the first half of games, you see the obvious trend.

*Last two years combined, out of top 40 qualifiers

The Bengals are taking the situation where he’s been most effective and doing it a little while also taking the situation where he’s less effective and doing it a lot.

Providing Brown more opportunities from the under-center alignment early in games could be an obvious way to find the explosives Burrow was talking about in the running game.

It doesn’t have to stop there, though.

If all goes well, it wouldn’t.

One point of emphasis beyond fixing the defense this offseason was getting better at finishing games. The Bengals are 7-12 in one-score games the last two seasons and lost the final five in a row last year. Much of that falls on the horrific defense. The Bengals are famously 6-7 in games where they score at least 33 points over the last two years, while the rest of the NFL is 159-13.

Still, there have been examples where the offense could have run out more clock or finished the game with a kneeldown but failed, instead forcing the defense to make a stop.

They want closers, and that could come from an under-center game performing at a higher level.

“I think there’s always ways we’re looking to evolve our offense, and a great way to play football is to have a lead with eight minutes left in the game and find ways to milk the clock, and certainly running the football is a big part of that,” coach Zac Taylor said. “If there’s ways you can blend that throughout the game, and we’re always going to look for ways that can effectively elevate our offense, we’re not afraid to do whatever that’s going to take.”

Taylor said during the 2021 season, following a loss against San Francisco, that he regretted taking the ball out of Burrow’s hands at the most important moments. That feeling has followed his play-calling and has largely paid off. That’s why there’s an understandable reluctance to shift the success of plays away from his franchise quarterback.

Every change produces risky side effects. Remember, the Bengals have ranked in the top five in red zone and converting third downs each of the last two seasons. There’s a reason for that beyond Burrow and the boys.

“Part of that is some teams, the first time they ask their quarterback to drop back and pass is on third down,” Pitcher said. “If you are only asking him to do something in the most critical part of the game, and that is the first time you are asking him to do it, it is hard to develop a rhythm and a proficiency level that he is going to be operating at his best when the game dictates you need him to do that. Whereas we do more of it, so it’s the norm for us. That plays itself out in how you see us operate and succeed in those areas.”

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What will all this mean? We’ll see. The debate rages on internally and externally. Just know the Bengals are tinkering.

They’ve entered previous seasons with thoughts of expanding the under-center game, only for it to get shelved by injuries to Burrow or All, shifting to the shotgun run game or battling a defense constantly forcing them to play from behind.

The new wrinkle explored two years ago in the summer for the offense involved moving Chase around the formation more to find new ways to dictate terms to the defense.

It resulted in Chase winning the receiving triple crown.

Could more under-center produce a similar spark?

Perhaps instead of ranking 31st again in under-center plays, they rank 20th and the percentage shift produces a higher rate of explosive plays, fewer hits on Burrow, a less-taxing approach for the offensive line and an improved four-minute offense consistently closing out games with kneeldowns instead of punts.

That world is currently an offseason dream set against the backdrop of routes on air and seven-on-seven sessions.

It could end up shelved again while Burrow, Chase and Higgins keep doing what they do best. The Bengals merely want to be better prepared for both.

“You want to be great at all of it,” Pitcher said. “We have to be open and willing — and we are — to: How do we evolve and get more explosive?”

No matter where it lands, understand for now that Burrow’s bought into the concept — with a permanent asterisk.

“I’m excited to see how it works out,” he said. “But I’m always ready to drop back 65 times to make it work, too.”