The increase in pre-snap motion in the NFL is something we’ve covered over the last few seasons, and through Week 1 of the 2023 campaign, that increase in both quality and quality has continued. Tua Tagovailoa of the Dolphins had 34 passing attempts with some kind of pre-snap motion against the Chargers, Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs had 28 passing attempts with motion against the Lions, and Brock Purdy of the 49ers had 26 passing attempts with motion against the Rams.
None of those numbers should come as a surprise, as the Dolphins, Chiefs, and 49ers were among the NFL’s leaders in pre-snap motion last season. But when the Rams, who finished 22nd in the league last season with just 193 passing attempts with motion, do it as much as they did against the Seahawks in a 30-13 win, that shouldn’t escape your notice.
Not only was Matthew Stafford highly effective with motion, but it amplified the efforts of two younger and smaller receivers — Tutu Atwell and Puka Nacua — tremendously. Atwell had three catches on three targets for 79 yards with motion, and Nacua caught five of eight targets for 47 yards with motion. Overall, and without Cooper Kupp in the game, Nacua and Atwell became the first duo of Rams receivers to each top 100 yards in a season opener since Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt… in 2003.
Rams head coach Sean McVay has watched these other offenses benefiting from motion, and it’s clear that he’s taking the plunge as he hasn’t before
“Well, I think that’s been something that’s gone on for a while and you just have to see, what are the responses and what are the defensive philosophies,” McVay said on the Monday after the Seahawks win. “And a lot of that is based on, alright, what’s the front structure and what does that mean and how it affects and influences the second and third levels of the defense? And so those have always been things that I think good offenses utilize, is the ability to use their cadence and motions as a weapon. The Niners do as good a job as anybody with that. We’ve tried to be able to do some of those types of things, and I think the good defenses understand the intent of those things and try to be able to make sure that they have answers and counters.
“It’s an evolution. It’s predicated on the type of spacing that you’re playing upfront and then how it affects the second and third levels, but certainly we’ll get our rules challenged and tested by a really well coached team, excellent personnel and excellent ways to be able to utilize the motion to an advantage with the way that Kyle and those guys do it.”
In McVay’s case, a lot of the motion concepts were more like what Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, a Shanahan acolyte, does with smaller speed receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
🚨 New SCHEME 🚨
When watching the Miami Dolphins in Week 1, it's only natural for fans of other teams to ask
"Why can't we do that?!"
Well, after a summer of reflection, we are seeing teams steal Mike McDaniel's concepts
And it's not slowing downhttps://t.co/F8Am5agBOO pic.twitter.com/5fl04hsAbH
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) September 14, 2023
On this 44-yard completion from Stafford to Atwell with 10:35 left in the third quarter, Atwell ran a speed motion between Nacua and tight end Tyler Higbee, and the result was no bueno for Seattle’s Cover-1.
tfw your opponent starts sending their small speed receivers in clear-out motion and your defenders are bumping into each other trying to cover it pic.twitter.com/3GUlJEsMWb
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 14, 2023
And this 21-yard Nacua reception with 7:50 left in the game was predicated on Atwell’s motion across the formation, throwing the Seahawks into a disadvantageous situation yet again.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” Greg (of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup) and Doug (of Touchdown wire) discussed how the Rams were able to race right past Seattle’s defenders with these speed motion concepts.
“We’ve talked in the last year or so about the increase in motion in this league, and I though the Rams did a phenomenal job with it,” Greg said. “They had 20 plays where they deployed a shift or a motion. Stafford was 14 for 20 for 193 yards, and if you just look at motion, Stafford was 11 for 15 for 160 yards.
“A shift means that you move someone, but they settle before the snap. A motion means that you snap the ball when someone’s moving.
“But one thing we’re seeing in the league, and we saw it with the Rams, is because more teams are using motion, and I think this might continue to be a trend, is you’re seeing smaller receivers being able to be effective. Tutu Atwell, I remember watching him coming out of Louisville. Incredibly explosive, both short-area and vertically. The reason motion is so critical is now, you get these guys free access off the ball, and they just scream into their routes. They do that really well with Atwell, and Atwell was a really important piece of their passing game.”
As the Rams will face the 49ers this Sunday, you can expect a cavalcade of motion from both offenses, and San Francisco defensive coordinator Steve Wilks seems ready for what McVay is cooking.
“I think it’s a lot of window dressing, with all the motions and shifts and putting a receiver in the backfield, tight end at one, running back at one,” Wilks said Thursday. “So, it tests your variables as I call it, and [you have to] make sure that you’re on point. Your communication has to be great, because if one guy has his eyes in the wrong spot, that’s a big play.”
Maybe the Rams have more big plays in them, from some unexpected sources.
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