The Miami Dolphins have joined a growing list of teams around the NFL utilizing the Shanahan/McVay motion based offense. The offense is a modern twist on the West Coast offense but unlike the traditional West Coast offense, teams like the 49ers, Rams, Dolphins, Vikings and Packers are using motion every to two to three plays to force the defense to show their hand pre-snap. It is all about figuring what coverage they are in and how they will adjust.

Conceptually, it puts the defense in a bind because not only do they have to adjust but it also creates deception and gives the offense an advantage depending on what the play call is.

When asked about how Miami uses motion in their offense, Patriots coach Bill Belichick talked about how Miami’s use of motion can be problematic.

“It’s not the vertical speed only, it’s also the horizontal speed. Those motions, the guy gets on one side of the field or formation to the other side very fast and can either outflank the defense or draw the defense out to create more space inside. So, the horizontal spacing and speed is, I want to say, just as big of an issue. But in a way, it’s just as big of an issue as the vertical speed that those players have that they use horizontally. So yeah, it’s definitely a problem.”

Contrary to popular belief, Miami doesn’t just use motion to free up Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill in the passing game. They also use a heavy dose of it in their running game. They motion to create running lanes in the run game and to cloud the reads of the underneath defenders in the passing game. Like his previous employer and mentor, Kyle Shanahan, Mike McDaniel runs the same offense and he uses motion to either set an edge, forces the defense to adjust and to outflank the opponent.

In Diagram, the 49ers run their patented Wanda or Weak Side Zone running play. They motion away and what that does is it softens the edge and forces the defense to rotate. The Dolphins do a great job of timing the snap just as the motion man gets to the quarterback. This enhances the mesh and forces the linebackers and safeties to pause as they read their keys.

 

Diagram 1: Wanda (Weakside Zone) with motion

Diagram 2: SIFT (Zone Toss)

The Dolphins will not only run Wanda or Sift away from motion, they will run it to motion as well. As you can see, on the first play they used the X receiver. On this play they use the Y or tight end to set an edge. Like the 49ers, the Dolphins do this a lot. They will also do it without using motion and have a wing player seal back side on the snap.

Diagram 3: SIFT (Motion Away): Here, the Dolphins run the same play but seal backside with the Z receiver. Again, they can time the motion with the snap to give the illusion of jet action and the Z can block backside on the play. Weak and strong zone are staple plays of this system and the Patriots will see a bunch of them this week.

Diagram 4: Sift Seal: The Dolphins do a great job of mixing up their motion and using their formation alignment to get the same affect on a play. Here instead of motioning the F, they simply line him up as a wing and they seal backside on the snap. This variety of how Miami uses their personnel makes their offense even tougher to defend.

The Dolphins offense has been out of the best in the league this season. Motion is a big part of their scheme and how they generate an advantage. The Patriots will need to make sure they communicate and that they are sound in their adjustments. If they do that, they should be fine.