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The NFL has spent years spreading defenses out. Some of its smartest offenses are now doing the opposite. Get under center. Bring in heavier personnel. Sell the run. Make linebackers take one false step – then throw behind them. Old-school football is becoming cutting edge again, and the numbers explain why. League-wide passing attempts from under center averaged 7.66 yards per attempt last season compared with 6.84 from shotgun. The touchdown rate was also significantly higher – 6.87 percent versus 4.47 percent. MORE: 5 most improved NFL offenses entering 2026-2027 season Don’t take my word for it – the film explains it better NFL analyst Doug Farrar recently posted a Matthew Stafford example showing what happens when Sean McVay combines an under-center look with play action. His description was perfect: it creates “all sorts of epic wrongness from the defense.” Watch the defenders. That’s the entire argument. The run fake changes their eyes. The formation changes their responsibilities. The quarterback gets cleaner throwing windows without having to make some ridiculous off-platform throw. MORE: Predicting the AFC playoff teams ahead of the 2026-2027 NFL season Teams have noticed Cincinnati ranked 31st in under-center usage last season. Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher has acknowledged the Bengals need more of it after data showed the league’s five heaviest under-center/play-action teams all finished in the top quarter in explosive plays. Baltimore is doing the same with Lamar Jackson. More than 80 percent of his dropbacks came from shotgun or pistol last year, but new coordinator Declan Doyle has dramatically increased his under-center work. Jackson says it can help keep defenses guessing. Nobody is throwing the shotgun away. That isn’t the point. The best offenses increasingly want answers from everywhere. The NFL spent years teaching defenses how to survive in space. Now offensive coaches are dragging them back into the box – and making them uncomfortable all over again. — Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories with The Big Lead Newsletter —