Packers among the best at using motion during Week 1
By Paul Bretl
The Green Bay Packers offense utilized motion at one of the highest rates in the NFL during Week 1 of the regular season.
According to PFF’s Steve Palazzolo, the Packers utilized motion on 71.7 percent of their offensive snaps against Chicago, which was the fifth-highest usage rate among teams. Ahead of Green Bay were Atlanta, Kansas City, Miami, and San Francisco leading the way, with motion or shift being used 82.3 percent of the time.
The heavy usage of motion is an important element of the Matt LaFleur offense. Four of the five teams listed above all have ties together, with LaFleur and Mike McDaniel having coached under Kyle Shanahan and Arthur Smith having spent time in Tennessee under LaFleur when he was the offensive coordinator.
Motion can do a number of things for an offense. It can cause the defense to tip its hand a bit by forcing them to move pre-snap. Those last-second adjustments or changes in responsibilities can also cause some confusion and help create mismatches for the offense. At the snap, if there is the threat of the motion man getting the ball, it can create a split second of hesitation by the defense, helping to open up running and passing lanes.
All of this can help alleviate some of the workload for the quarterback by creating relatively easier throws to make and creating opportunities for the pass catchers to get into space or to be in favorable matchups.
In 2022, the Chiefs, 49ers, and Dolphins were among the best at using motion and also happened to be the three best teams against disguised coverages by Expected Points Added (EPA). Late movement in the secondary is something we saw New England utilize heavily against the Packers in joint practices and is something many defenses will likely deploy against Jordan Love and the young pass catchers because of the chaos it can cause. Pre-snap, Love could be expecting one look, and by the time he hits his back foot on his dropback, the defense could be showing something completely different.
However, utilizing motion can give the offense back some of that control, so to speak, by allowing them to be the ones dictating things and forcing the defense to make the last-second adjustments rather than the other way around.
The speed and versatility that the Packers have within their offense only helps their effectiveness as a heavy-motion team. The speed factor on its own can create favorable matchups and the versatility can really stress defenses by allowing the offense to run a variety of plays from just a few personnel packages, keeping defenses off-balanced and guessing with so many players able to fill a variety of roles.
As we know, utilizing motion was not something Aaron Rodgers was a fan of. However, the Packers still utilized it 61 percent of the time last season, so it’s not as if it was completely forgotten about either. But now with Love under center, this element is going to become a more prevalent part of the offense than it was in recent years.