CINCINNATI — Health and defense remain the primary factors in the Bengals’ outlook, but Cincinnati’s offense has emerged as a pivotal issue as the franchise approaches a potentially make-or-break 2026 season.
Quarterback Joe Burrow acknowledged the problem, saying, “There’s no secret that the last several years go the way we wanted to, and there’s a lot of blame to go around for that — myself included.” Even when healthy, the offense did not resemble the high-powered unit the team has fielded in previous deep playoff runs.
Burrow’s first-down numbers slipped in 2025. Among quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks, he posted a league-worst EPA of minus-11.4 on first downs, according to ESPN Research. The totals were affected by defensive touchdowns: Burrow was the only player last season to have multiple first-down dropbacks result in defensive touchdowns, including two interceptions (Week 14 at Buffalo, Week 18 vs. Cleveland) and a lost fumble (Week 18 vs. Cleveland).
Success rate told a different story. Burrow finished 14th among qualifying quarterbacks in success rate on first downs, a marked drop from his top-five finishes in the seasons when he was an MVP finalist. The team has used EPA and success rate as evaluation tools during the offseason, Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said.
Pitcher noted caveats with metrics and said schematic tweaks are part of the offseason work. “I would say that’s one area where we felt like we probably underperformed just to the standards that we’ve set for ourselves and really standards that we’ve met in other areas of the offense,” Pitcher said, adding teams must balance current trends with core offensive principles.
The Bengals have flagged a lack of explosive plays as a key shortcoming: just 7.9% of their plays in 2025 were explosive, 27th in the NFL, and 8.4% on first downs, 23rd. During voluntary offseason workouts the team has emphasized creating more big plays. “With the playmakers that we have and the guys that we have in this locker room, I think that we have the ability to be more explosive,” tight end Mike Gesicki said, “Not just in the pass game, that’s in the run game too.”
