Bengals By the Numbers: Is It Time For Joe Burrow to Embrace Play Action and Under Center Formations?

The Bengals offense excelled in many aspects in 2024. Joe Burrow led the NFL in multiple passing categories and played like the most valuable player for much of the season.

However, the offense Burrow runs isn’t exactly "easy." With lower rates of play action and under center play, the offense relies on Burrow making the correct reads and accurate throws in order to keep the chains moving. Is this the offense Joe Burrow wants, or the one he has been required to adopt based on an untrustworthy offensive line?

The Under Use of Under Center

In 2024, the Bengals went under center the third-fewest times in the league (168 snaps). When under center, they heavily favored running plays as they boasted the 7th-lowest pass rate out of that formation (22.6%) according to NFL Pro. When Burrow was asked to pass, he completed 21-of-34 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions. Adding in the four sacks for -34 yards, the Bengals averaged 3.4 yards per pass play from under center.

Chase Brown’s production from under center also left much to be desired, as he ranked 36th among qualified rushers in EPA/rush and only averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Just 8.1% of his under center carries resulted in a run of 10+ yards.

Shotgun formation was MUCH more efficient for the Bengals offense as a whole. The passing offense had the 5th-highest yards per play (6.7) and EPA/pass in the league. Brown saw his yards per carry jump to 4.7 and was able to rip off a run of 10 or more yards 12% of the time.

Was the run scheme more conducive for shotgun as opposed to under center? Did the offensive personnel make under center less efficient? Either way, the offense was markedly better from shotgun and as such, most snaps came from this formation. However it is interesting to note that three of the four teams that made it to Championship Sunday finished in the bottom-10 in under center snaps. The Eagles, Bills, and Commanders all had an even lower pass rate when under center.

Giving More Action to Play Action?

Play action is also considered an ‘easy button’ that an offense can utilize for easier reads and completions. We know the Bengals did not use under center as a key part of their passing attack, and as such Burrow’s play action opportunities from under center were lacking. In total, he completed 18-of-27 passes for 155 yards and one touchdown, with a 5.7 yards per attempt. While his stats were better using play action out of pistol and shotgun, the Bengals as a whole still lagged behind in overall play action usage coming in at the 8th-lowest percentage of pass plays using play action (19.4%).

The low play action percentage isn’t a new development. Since coming into the league, Burrow’s play action has topped out at 21.9% his rookie season. Looking back at his final season at LSU however, the 26.6% rate of play action would have been a top-8 usage in the NFL this year. Now obviously the NFL and college differ drastically and in many ways, but Burrow has functioned in an offense that utilized more play action than it does now. Not only that, but throughout his career his Yards Per Attempt and Average Depth of Target have been higher when using play action versus not.

What’s Next for the Bengals Offense?

Unless you are personally asking Burrow and guaranteeing an honest, unfiltered response, we are left to speculate a bit as to why the Bengals do not leverage under center or play action more often. But considering how much better Burrow and Brown perform from shotgun, the desire to use much more under center may be misplaced.

I believe the Bengals should (and likely want to) run more play action though, either from pistol or shotgun. However, with higher pressure rates when leveraging play action, the interior of the offensive line must be improved to ensure Burrow has adequate time to push the ball down the field.

BURROW TO CHASE. 41-YARD TD.

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— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024

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