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The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Soonerpeace - 12-15-2023
Several people have been saying some of this. Wyches Warriors & Killer Goose
Excerpts….Paul Dehner - The Athletic - Bengals offensive rebirth: What changed, what hasn’t, what’s next
Undeniably, on offense, they don’t just look like a playoff team. They look different.
“I don’t know if it’s really been that different,” head coach Zac Taylor said.
OK, maybe not everyone agrees on the verbiage. Let’s go with a reallocation of resources.
“They’re all things we’ve done over the course of the season,” Taylor said. “Each defense we play is a big driving force for how the game is played. We haven’t called a single play that we didn’t rep all training camp and fall. These guys believe in what we’re doing and have done a great job. We’ve really called upon every resource we have on offense, and everyone has stepped up.”
Those resources have seen so much success that it’s fair to wonder if schemes and strategies employed over this stretch might become foundational additions when Joe Burrow returns next season.
Those discussions are for another day and a more relaxed moment. For now, the Bengals have found strategies that work. They might not be the ones you think, though.
To better understand what’s changed in the Bengals’ offense, specifically from a play-calling perspective, requires filtering to neutral downs.
To do that, I looked at all plays on first and second down when the score margin was within 10 points in the first three quarters. I also extracted all goal-to-go plays to avoid situational outliers.
This neutral play subset illustrates two significant schematic points of emphasis and one false narrative.
Bengals' neutral down play selection
STATS LAST 3 W5-W11 VS INDY NFL 2023
Plays 84 179 28 11,082
Play action% 29% 22% 36% 20%
Shotgun% 67% 88% 57% 67%
Dropback% 61% 66% 64% 56%
1. Taylor is not running the ball more. All those carries filling the box score have come in putting away wins and goal-line situations. When extracting to true neutral downs, you can see the propensity to pass dipped only marginally.
2. The difference is rooted in how they are executing the offense. The shift from shotgun to under center has been seismic. With a fully healthy Burrow from Week 5 to Week 11, they were in shotgun 88 percent of the time. With Browning, that’s changed to right at the league average. They leaned even further into it against Indianapolis at only 57 percent shotgun.
3. With the increase of under-center has come the increase of play-action. The Bengals used 14 percent more play action against Indianapolis than they did with a healthy Burrow.
All these factors have led to a dramatic rise in explosive plays which have been the overriding difference in the offense. The actual run production has stayed at a fairly consistent level on neutral downs.
Bengals neutral down play efficiency
STAT LAST 3 W5-W11 VS INDY NFL 2023
Success% 46% 56% 50% 47%
Yards/Attempt 10.2 7.3 13.5 7.4
Yards/Rush 4.7 4.6 4.8 4.6
10+gain% 29% 20% 32% 20%
These shifts aren’t complicated and make perfect sense. Burrow didn’t love under-center plays. Turning his back to the defense didn’t fit his processing superpower as well as shotgun. He preferred to stand back, survey the field, dissect and rip completions.
Browning has more comfort turning his back to the defense and could use the extra time provided. That has unlocked different corners of the playbook.
The most notable change, which I wrote about last week, is the rise of the screen game out of thin air. The Bengals piled on to the trend, running six screens against Indianapolis, more than any game under Taylor, including three that went for a combined 124 yards and a touchdown.
There’s a reason under center play action (UCPA) continues to be emphasized. Beyond screens, Browning is thriving in it.
In the last three weeks on UCPA, Browning is 11 of 14 for 240 yards, 10 first downs and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. Those incompletions include a drop by Tee Higgins 10 yards downfield and one throwaway. Browning also scrambled three times for 27 yards with no sacks.
The Bengals only ran 11 UCPA snaps in the first 10 games of the season.
“The more you can do, the more looks you present to the defense and the more that all those looks have multiple things you can run out of those formations or those sets, I think it makes it difficult,” Browning said of increased usage under center.
The rise of UCPA coincided with the disappearance of the empty formation. After the debacle against the Pittsburgh Steelers where Browning struggled to process at nearly the same level in empty as Burrow, the Bengals burned those pages of the playbook.
They averaged eight plays a game out of the empty set from Week 5 to Week 12.
They haven’t run a single play out of empty the last two weeks.
That shines a light on the other aspects of this form. The Bengals’ offensive line has started living up to the preseason hype. In a league where most teams are dipping into the reserves up front, no team has played more snaps with the same starting five as Cincinnati. Orlando Brown Jr., Cordell Volson, Ted Karras, Alex Cappa and Jonah Williams have started all 13 games together.
Gaining a lift from less true pass sets and exposures to empty, protection shined. They only allowed three pressures against the Colts, according to PFF, a season low. They also snapped a 42-game streak of allowing at least one sack.
“Our O-line is playing great football,” Browning said. “I think there’s a lot written about our guys on the outside, and obviously they’re some of the best players in the NFL too, and Joe Mixon is a great running back. But, our O-line and our tight ends have been blocking their asses off, and I think that’s a big part of why we’ve been successful.”
Browning’s not wrong. When allowed to stand in the pocket without pressure, he has carved up the Jacksonville Jaguars and Colts.
When not pressured, he’s 42 of 46 for 498 yards, a staggering 91 percent completion rate. Those four incompletions include two batted passes, a drop and Sunday’s interception.
Meanwhile, he’s 8 of 15 for 131 yards when under pressure. Those numbers are buoyed by the 76-yard touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase in Jacksonville.
The bottom line: Keep pressure numbers low and Browning’s pattern suggests sustainability. The primary issue there would be the degree of difficulty is about to rise substantially.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … just the facts - Whatever - 12-15-2023
It will definitely be interesting to see what the offense will look like next year. I can see a push to do more UC plays and Burrow may be more receptive to it seeing as how well Browning has done with it. I would also like to see Zac simply calling the plays a lot more instead of the multiple guys in the headset making suggestions system.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … just the facts - Frank Booth - 12-15-2023
We’ve seen this the past 2 seasons. The offense starts playing better down the stretch. This is nothing new. It’s just that Browning’s in, and people think something very different is happening.
I think you’ll see the same thing next season. They won’t start off nearly as slow, but they’ll get hot in late November - december
Don’t overthink it just because Browning is in
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … just the facts - Soonerpeace - 12-15-2023
(12-15-2023, 01:51 PM)Whatever Wrote: It will definitely be interesting to see what the offense will look like next year. I can see a push to do more UC plays and Burrow may be more receptive to it seeing as how well Browning has done with it. I would also like to see Zac simply calling the plays a lot more instead of the multiple guys in the headset making suggestions system.
That’s not how they do it. Several offensive coaches are in charge of situations. I’m not sure who has what. Third Down and long, short yardage, goal line etc. They are to be ready with a play if Zac asks. They are on the call sheet. Doug Pederson does it and Dan Campbell does it. It’s very common. It’s a copy cat league. So some have some exaggeration here.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … just the facts - Synric - 12-15-2023
(12-15-2023, 01:51 PM)Whatever Wrote: It will definitely be interesting to see what the offense will look like next year. I can see a push to do more UC plays and Burrow may be more receptive to it seeing as how well Browning has done with it. I would also like to see Zac simply calling the plays a lot more instead of the multiple guys in the headset making suggestions system.
I'm more in a wait and see if the Colts game was more of an outlier because of how the Bengals controlled that game. The Jaguars game was more college spread shotgun stuff with split backfield in there with Sample as an extra pass protector.
Edit: Tyler Boyd played a season low snaps by a considerable margin from his average.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … just the facts - Nate (formerly eliminate08) - 12-15-2023
Thanks Soonerpeace. Eliminating the empty sets from the playbook has been a good move for Browning clearly. Him being
so comfortable playing under Center has just opened up our Offense a ton and has helped the OL especially. Hope this all
continues against the Vikings tomorrow, the team they just shut out scored 63 points last night on the Chargers.
I hope this is more of how bad the Chargers Defense is than how good the Vikings Defense is lol
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - NUGDUKWE - 12-15-2023
(12-15-2023, 01:57 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: We’ve seen this the past 2 seasons. The offense starts playing better down the stretch. This is nothing new. It’s just that Browning’s in, and people think something very different is happening.
I think you’ll see the same thing next season. They won’t start off nearly as slow, but they’ll get hot in late November - december
Don’t overthink it just because Browning is in
It's not overthinking if the exact time they start running the offense differently we see clear and obvious results. The question is how much this offense will need mixed with what Burrow typically does.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - NUGDUKWE - 12-15-2023
(12-15-2023, 02:11 PM)Synric Wrote: I'm more in a wait and see if the Colts game was more of an outlier because of how the Bengals controlled that game. The Jaguars game was more college spread shotgun stuff with split backfield in there with Sample as an extra pass protector.
Edit: Tyler Boyd played a season low snaps by a considerable margin from his average.
It will be interesting seeing how the offense continues to evolve as the season finishes off.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - SunsetBengal - 12-15-2023
(12-15-2023, 05:58 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: It's not overthinking if the exact time they start running the offense differently we see clear and obvious results. The question is how much this offense will need mixed with what Burrow typically does.
Except the 'differently' and 'clear and obvious results' began with the San Francisco game..
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - NUGDUKWE - 12-15-2023
(12-15-2023, 06:30 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Except the 'differently' and 'clear and obvious results' began with the San Francisco game..
Ugh. Okay with Browning. This is what I meant but I suppose I should've stated this. Browning and the offense went from terrible to very relevant with running the offense differently. So it will be interesting to see how it continues to evolve moving forward and what parts we try and include with Burrow next year.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Nate (formerly eliminate08) - 12-15-2023
(12-15-2023, 06:37 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: Ugh. Okay with Browning. This is what I meant but I suppose I should've stated this. Browning and the offense went from terrible to very relevant with running the offense differently. So it will be interesting to see how it continues to evolve moving forward and what parts we try and include with Burrow next year.
It will be interesting no doubt Nug.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - SunsetBengal - 12-15-2023
(12-15-2023, 06:37 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: Ugh. Okay with Browning. This is what I meant but I suppose I should've stated this. Browning and the offense went from terrible to very relevant with running the offense differently. So it will be interesting to see how it continues to evolve moving forward and what parts we try and include with Burrow next year.
Agreed, it is a wait and see for us on the outside. The best we can do is read the coaches quote and determine that they're doing what the opposing defenses will allow them to do. Like he said, they're not running anything 'new', all plays that they have worked on from day 1. I'm not sure if what they have done the past two games would look exactly the same with Joe Burrow in the game, but I certainly hope that Joe is on board with running a more diverse offensive set.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Soonerpeace - 12-16-2023
https://x.com/bengals/status/1734580202779382015?s=46&t=oRdMuHpC2b0Xldr1TrExDA
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Soonerpeace - 12-16-2023
(12-15-2023, 07:50 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Agreed, it is a wait and see for us on the outside. The best we can do is read the coaches quote and determine that they're doing what the opposing defenses will allow them to do. Like he said, they're not running anything 'new', all plays that they have worked on from day 1. I'm not sure if what they have done the past two games would look exactly the same with Joe Burrow in the game, but I certainly hope that Joe is on board with running a more diverse offensive set.
Well blame the coaches for acquiescing or placating him too much. There has to be a better balance there.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Oasis5055 - 12-16-2023
(12-16-2023, 01:01 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: Well blame the coaches for acquiescing or placating him too much. There has to be a better balance there.
In the Super Bowl the opening second half touch down to Higgins was an under center play action pass from burrow. To my recollection that was the only play action pass burrow threw from under center. The rams were not very good against the screen plays all year taylor did not call one screen. I said then a lot of sacks would be reduced if burrow just went under center as the defense has no idea where he will be after the snap. When they went under center in the 4th quarter mixon gashed the rams on a multiple runs
Suddenly 3 years later these guys are geniuses for going under center and running screens? If they simply kept doing what worked they would all have rings. I’m sorry but smart coaches make decisions based on what works and what the other team is bad at..not what makes the quarterback comfortable and like them more..I guess it took burrows injury for them to grow some kahunas
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Soonerpeace - 12-16-2023
(12-16-2023, 06:41 PM)Oasis5055 Wrote: In the Super Bowl the opening second half touch down to Higgins was an under center play action pass from burrow. To my recollection that was the only play action pass burrow threw from under center. The rams were not very good against the screen plays all year taylor did not call one screen. I said then a lot of sacks would be reduced if burrow just went under center as the defense has no idea where he will be after the snap. When they went under center in the 4th quarter mixon gashed the rams on a multiple runs
Suddenly 3 years later these guys are geniuses for going under center and running screens? If they simply kept doing what worked they would all have rings. I’m sorry but smart coaches make decisions based on what works and what the other team is bad at..not what makes the quarterback comfortable and like them more..I guess it took burrows injury for them to grow some kahunas
Hall of Fame post … NOT
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Synric - 12-16-2023
(12-16-2023, 06:41 PM)Oasis5055 Wrote: In the Super Bowl the opening second half touch down to Higgins was an under center play action pass from burrow. To my recollection that was the only play action pass burrow threw from under center. The rams were not very good against the screen plays all year taylor did not call one screen. I said then a lot of sacks would be reduced if burrow just went under center as the defense has no idea where he will be after the snap. When they went under center in the 4th quarter mixon gashed the rams on a multiple runs
Suddenly 3 years later these guys are geniuses for going under center and running screens? If they simply kept doing what worked they would all have rings. I’m sorry but smart coaches make decisions based on what works and what the other team is bad at..not what makes the quarterback comfortable and like them more..I guess it took burrows injury for them to grow some kahunas
Bengals definitely need more screens with Burrow but thr Rams weren't really bad against screens as much as every team threw a ton of them because of that pass rush.
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Wyche'sWarrior - 12-16-2023
(12-16-2023, 06:45 PM)Synric Wrote: Bengals definitely need more screens with Burrow but thr Rams weren't really bad against screens as much as every team threw a ton of them because of that pass rush.
Oh no, not context!
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - chopperbobby - 12-16-2023
More under the center and our run game is doing better. Keeping an extra player in the block. Giving more time. Using all receivers to include tight ends that are playing well. Zac is calling a wh9le different game with Joe out. I know they say Joe does not like under center but it is working well. Also, why do we keep extra blockers in on our barge BASEMENT QB but not for our 230 mil QB?
RE: The Offense… what’s changed … Zac - Soonerpeace - 12-16-2023
(12-16-2023, 08:53 PM)chopperbobby Wrote: More under the center and our run game is doing better. Keeping an extra player in the block. Giving more time. Using all receivers to include tight ends that are playing well. Zac is calling a wh9le different game with Joe out. I know they say Joe does not like under center but it is working well. Also, why do we keep extra blockers in on our barge BASEMENT QB but not for our 230 mil QB?
He likes 4 wide or even 5 wide when practical