{
  "id": 12482935,
  "title": "The Bengals’ under-center offense has been a disaster",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/the-bengals-under-center-offense-has-been-a-disaster",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-06T22:17:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/bengals-under-center-offense-disaster-221724391.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Cincinnati Bengals have struggled mightily with their under-center offense, leading the team to question whether they should abandon it altogether. Despite spending much of training camp attempting to improve their under-center play, the Bengals have actually made the situation worse. They now rank last in the league in under-center performance, averaging a mere 3.3 yards per play – a significant drop from 5.1 yards per play last season. This decline coincides with a 54% increase in under-center snaps compared to the previous year. The running game has also failed to make an impact, and quarterback Joe Burrow appears less comfortable executing play-action passes from under-center. The Bengals' reliance on under-center play has risen to a level that may be detrimental to their success, especially when trying to build an early lead. The team's up-tempo offense, designed to work best with a lead, could benefit from more aggressive play-calling when under center. While theoretically under-center could enhance the offense by opening up play-action and reducing the number of passing attempts, the reality has proven otherwise. The Bengals will face the Miami Dolphins this week, and continuing to rely heavily on under-center could embolden Miami and potentially secure the Dolphins' first win of the season. With a bye week ahead, the Bengals must self-scout their offensive strategy, as the current under-center approach is clearly not working.",
  "summary": "Going under-center has actually made the Bengals running game worse.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}