Bengals’ opening training camp practices show Joe Burrow’s commitment to unlocking the full potential of Cincinnati’s offense
The Cincinnati Bengals don’t just need their defense to be better in 2026. There is another level that the offense, the strength of the team, can reach. One of the best pieces of news out of training camp so far is their awareness, and willingness, to remedy it.
The Cincinnati Bengals don’t just need their defense to be better in 2026. There is another level that the offense, the strength of the team, can reach.
It starts with Joe Burrow, but it certainly doesn’t end with just him.
Cincinnati’s offense has primarily functioned out of the shotgun over the last five years. It’s what Burrow is best at, and combined with a formidable group of past catchers, it’s tough for the average defense to contain.
It’s an identity that is surely the envy to plenty of teams around the NFL. It also has a weakness that is tough to ignore once you realize it exists.
One of the best pieces of news out of training camp so far is the Bengals’ apparent awareness, and willingness, to remedy it
The problem with the Bengals’ offense
When defenses go up against Joe Burrow, throwing to the likes of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, there is a natural propensity to keep everything in front of them. The best way to limit explosive plays is to encourage the opposition to keep things underneath.
For this reason, the Bengals face an extremely high rate of Cover 2 and the highest rate of cloud coverage in the NFL, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Nate Tice.
“That’s a Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins stat,” Tice said on the Yahoo! Sports NFL YouTube channel.
Defenses do it because it works. The Bengals offense was significantly better in 2025 with Joe Burrow compared to without him. Yet, when defenses kept safety back and put a cap on the deep portion of the field, Cincinnati was not as dangerous as it wanted to be with its franchise QB.
“When facing cloud, they were 26th in EPA per play, and this was with Joe Burrow on the field,” Tice said. “20th in success rate, 20th in rushing success rate, 17th in passing success rate. So, even his efficiency kind of drops down. They had a 6.6% explosive play rate, 29th [in the NFL]. And then the yards per play was 5.1 yards per play.”
Cincinnati’s struggles against cloud coverage need a solution
It would be asinine to think the Bengals need to be perfect in every facet of what they do. There has never been a perfect team to win the Super Bowl. Even the 1972 Miami Dolphins had imperfections despite their perfect record.
The reason why it’s important for the Bengals to figure out how to beat these kinds of coverages is because of just how good they are when not facing it. The difference is actually quite stark.
“When facing every other coverage, combine every other coverage, third in success rate,” Tice said. “Fourth in pass success rate. 18th in explosive play rate, which is better than 29th. Fifth in EPA per play. Third in sack rate, that’s another thing. Joe Burrow takes more sacks when he faces cloud. And then 5.7 yards per play, so over half a yard better, which is sixth in the NFL.”
Cincinnati is more efficient on offense in every way when defenses don’t play as fearful as they should be. But it’s not just the canyon-sized gap in efficiency that’s the issue here. Even against every other coverage, the Bengals are still a below average team in generating explosive plays. Explosives shorten drives. They lower margin of error of having to be perfect every single play when you require so many to score.
If the Bengals can create more explosive plays, no matter the coverage they face, their lives on offense will be as easy as you’d expected to be with Burrow, Chase, and Higgins leading the charge.
The answers are simple, and the Bengals are on their way
The keys to creating explosives, and therefore defeating cloud coverage, are mastering plays that require long-developing routes, deep dropbacks, and an offensive line that can hold up to protect for all that time.
“The way to beat cloud is deep digs, deep corners, just chucking the ball,” Tice said. “You got to have a quarterback willing to stand there and throw it, and you have to have an offensive line that blocks it. So I think they need to re-add some of the deep dropbacks, those deep seven-step dropbacks to their offense.”
Going under center is the implied key. It’s what can fill the box with defenders, therefore creating areas of exploitation past the second level, and also forcing defenders in the box to respect the run based off a pre-snap look that isn’t obvious. Deep dropbacks can be executed, and the coverage–breaking routes can be more easily effective.
The very first completed pass of Cincy’s first training camp practice shows these plays are at the forefront of what Burrow and Co. envision this year.
After that practice, Burrow was asked about his comfort level going under center and executing play action, another wrinkle that can make explosives easier to come by.
“I’m very comfortable,” Burrow said last Wednesday. “I can do whatever is asked of me, I have and I will. I haven’t done it quite as much over the last several years, and we’ll see what we evolve into this year. But if that’s what’s needed, that’s what I’ll do.”
The under center, play action concepts have been a consistent theme in the opening days of camp. I don’t expect them to subside.
Why the Bengals can fully evolve their offense
Tice believes the Bengals have the ingredients to make defenses pay for running coverages that were successful last year. The QB and receivers have been in place, but now that the offensive line is in a much better place compared to start the year, Cincy can run these concepts with actual confidence.
“I think they have the offensive line that can do it, and I think they have the receivers that can do it, and I think they have the quarterback to do it,” Tice said. “So I think they just have to kind of like rebuild that section of the playbook, if that makes sense. And I think that can put them over the top because everything else is pretty dang good.”
The Bengals sought external answers to their problems on defense. The expectation is for that side of the ball to be much improved because of that outsourcing. Should the offense follow suit with improvements of their own thanks to looking inwards, the ceiling for this team is truly in the clouds.
Watch Tice’s full breakdown of the Bengals’ offense with Matt Harmon below:
