Following a 30-26 win over the New Orleans Saints, the Cincinnati Bengals are talking about having found an identity on offense. It's thrilling, particularly because they've been seeking answers for a while now. It's safe to say they've found some after their best offensive performance this season.

But what exactly does that "identity" mean?

It might mean a lot of things. Primarily, I'd point toward the Bengals finally putting together an attack that featured underneath throws. But there's one other trend that is getting most of the attention right now.

The shotgun formation.

Out of the Bengals' 54 offensive plays, 52 came from the gun. The only two exceptions were a quarterback sneak and a kneel-down. In other words, Cincinnati's coaching staff saw its problems under center and came up with an unorthodox solution for them.

Eliminate the under-center offense altogether.

Now granted, this was only one game and doesn't necessarily mean the Bengals will live in this world exclusively moving forward.

Even still, head coach Zac Taylor noted on Monday that teams that went under center struggled to run the football. Playing from the gun naturally spreads out the defense and opens up a lot of possibilities to run the football into light boxes.

Great question from Charlie "can a team live in shotgun for an entire season?"

Taylor deflects a bit, says you need to be able to adjust. Also says he felt really good about the offense yesterday, saw that teams that went under center had a hard time running.

— Jake Liscow (@JakeLiscow) October 17, 2022

On Sunday, the Bengals had their best rushing performance of the season averaging 5.4 yards per attempt. Only one other time had they surpassed 4 yards per carry (4.8 versus the Ravens).

In previous weeks, going under center spelled trouble for Taylor's offense because Cincinnati didn't seem to have a solid marriage of running and passing concepts from those looks. When defenses saw Burrow under center, defenses sniffed out what was coming.

Either the Bengals figure out how to tether everything together so passes look like runs or the other way around or they keep going down this shotgun-exclusive path.

Living in the gun also opened up plenty of "quick game" throws for the Bengals. According to Zac Taylor, a lot of those passes were called runs that gave quarterback Joe Burrow the option to throw it if there was a favorable look pre-snap.

A lot of the "quick game" were called runs, said Zac Taylor. Burrow taking advantage of soft coverage with packaged plays/RPOs – a lot of their runs have a pass option built in now.

— Jake Liscow (@JakeLiscow) October 17, 2022

As excited as I am that the Bengals have found their answers, it'd be overly optimistic to think this will be the team's modus operandi all year long. Being one-dimensional can hurt you in the long term in the NFL.

But for now, the Bengals might be intrigued to keep this rare trend going on offense. Theoretically, those "quick game" throws can be an alternative to running the football. After all, both are ways to attack a defense underneath. Sooner or later, the defense will be forced to cheat, opening up those tasty deep shots Joey Brr wants to throw so bad.

The Bengals should beware of abandoning under-center looks altogether for the entire season, though. In this league, every week your film is picked apart by players, coaches, assistants, and even interns.

You have to find a way to unleash new stuff every week, especially in the postseason. Doing so is harder if you've committed 100% to shotgun looks.

The Bengals have found their identity for now, and there's reason to be excited about where they're heading. However, don't forget identities last very little in the NFL if you don't adapt properly and often.

Featured image via Cara Owsley/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK