Playbooks
Overview
The Bengals Offense and NFL Live Bengals Offense are the same playbook. They share all 606 of this book's plays and differ by zero sets, so any audible package, scheme fit or tendency you build in one carries straight over to the other. Pick whichever cut your mode offers and treat the advice below as covering both.
The Bengals Offense is a Shotgun book. Shotgun accounts for 517 of its 606 plays (85%) across 33 sets. Singleback adds 63 plays (10%) across 5 sets, and the rest is a thin layer of specialty looks: Goal Line Offense (12 plays, 1 set), I Form (11 plays, 1 set) and Hail Mary (3 plays, 2 sets). At 606 total plays it is larger than 73% of the game's 64 offensive team playbooks. Most of that depth comes from Shotgun set variety, not from formation variety.
This book supports a spread passing game plan built on quick concepts: Drag, Crosser, Flat, Hitch, Slant and Spot for rhythm throws, with Post and dedicated Cover 3 Beater calls to push the ball downfield. Play Action, Motion and Block and Release tags add layers to that base. Personnel ranges from 10 and 11 out to 22, 23 and 13, so you can shrink the field in short yardage with calls like FB Dive and 0 1 Trap. That heavy menu is small, though. Expect to live in the gun and treat everything under center as a situational change-up.
Scheme Fit
The Bengals Offense wants an accurate, quick release quarterback with strong short and medium accuracy who can process pre-snap reads out of the gun. It also wants route running wideouts who win on slants, drags and posts, a pass catching back for Block and Release checkdowns, and a line that pass blocks well enough to support a Shotgun heavy attack. It fits players who want to throw first, read coverage and dissect zones with a deep pass menu, not players who want a ground and pound identity built from under center formations.
Example Plays from this Playbook
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Strengths
- With 33 Shotgun sets and 517 plays, you can run the same core concept (Drag, Slant, Spot, Hitch) out of many different alignments, which makes it very hard for opponents to key on formation tendencies.
- Dedicated Cover 3 Beater calls and Post concepts inside such a deep Shotgun menu let you audible straight into a zone killer when you read single high pre-snap, without leaving your base formation.
- Motion and Block and Release tags across the Shotgun sets let you shift into bunch or stack leverage and use your back or tight end as a late checkdown against a nano blitz.
- Personnel ranges from 10 through 23, so you can force defensive subs and punish mismatches: spread them with 10 personnel, then pound them with 22 or 23 when they match with nickel or dime.
- The book is larger than 73% of offensive team playbooks, so you can rotate concepts across a full franchise season or a long H2H series without repeating looks.
Weaknesses
- With 85% of the book in Shotgun, a savvy opponent can sit in nickel or dime all game and rarely get caught in the wrong personnel, because true under center run threats are scarce.
- I Form has only 11 plays in 1 set and Goal Line Offense only 12 plays in 1 set. Your power run and short yardage menu is predictable, and defenders can guess your handful of heavy calls.
- Singleback's 63 plays across 5 sets give you some balance, but not enough play action and under center variety to build a sustained run first identity.
- The run game leans on gun runs, so against a defense that commits a user to the box or shades the line, you have limited downhill counters beyond FB Dive and 0 1 Trap.
- Hail Mary has only 3 plays, so your end of half desperation options are basically Goal Post and little else, which leaves little to disguise when time runs out.
Usage Tips
Build your base audible package entirely in Shotgun. Carry one Slant or Hitch quick game call, one Drag or Crosser mesh style man beater, one Cover 3 Beater, and one Spot or Flat call for the flat defender. Swap between them based on the pre-snap safety look.
On 1st and 10, mix Shotgun Play Action with Singleback so your 10% under center plays still influence defensive calls. Otherwise opponents will stack coverage against the gun every snap.
On 3rd and short or 4th and 1, reach for Goal Line Offense or I Form and call FB Dive or 0 1 Trap. Use them sparingly early in games so they stay effective when the game is on the line.
On 3rd and medium, use Motion to confirm man or zone before the snap. If the defender follows, hot route to a Slant or Drag. If the defense shifts or zone drops, check to the Cover 3 Beater or Spot concept.
In the red zone, pair Shotgun Flat and Slant concepts with a Goal Line Offense heavy look. Save Goal Post from the Hail Mary formation strictly for the final snap of a half.
Formations in this playbook
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