TMQ: Bartender, man in motion for everyone!

An offensive tactic takes over the NFL in a single week

The Miami Dolphins hanging 70 points in a game got the attention of the football world. Of course this happened against Denver, with the league’s worst defense – last in every category, just allowed 28 points to the low-voltage trickle-charge Bears. Nevertheless the football world wanted to know: How is it possible to score 70 points against NFL-quality athletes?

Perhaps the offseason must come before coaches and scouts have time to “break down” every snap of the Dolphins-Broncos game. But there was one thing that jumped off the film at first glance – Miami used man in motion as never before.

Library of Congress photo.

The Dolphins showed man in motion on almost every play till the fourth quarter: often, first shifting then going man in motion. The Broncos got flummoxed. Miami receivers were running their patterns behind the line of scrimmage, and making themselves impossible to jam or press-cover.

Man in motion has been around since Adam told Eve, “Go to that mysterious tree, run an out and I’ll hit you.” One concept, the Minnesota Shift, was a variation devised by the Golden Gophers college program a century ago.

Yet man in motion has never been a fad tactic. As recently as the late 1990s, few NFL actions involved motion: five-wide or “empty backfield” was common, but not motion.

Through recent seasons, though, the Niners, Chiefs and Dolphins have used quite a bit of man in motion. Santa Clara has a motion man almost every down, and is on a 19-4 tear, interrupted only by quarterback injuries. Kansas City shifts and/or motions a lot, and has won two of the last four Super Bowls. Miami employed motion for great offensive stats last season, which was interrupted by quarterback injuries.

So along came the Marine Mammals going motion on almost every snap and scoring 70 points. You couldn’t help but notice. And man in motion is relatively easy to add to a gameplan.