Tag: play action

1 offensive trend 49ers must carry over from Week 6

The 49ers got back to what works on offense against Seattle, a trend that should help them entering a brutal part of their schedule.

There’s a clear trend the San Francisco 49ers needed to continue following this season, and they did it in the team’s Week 6 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

Quarterback Brock Purdy is excellent in play action, but his play action rate dipped from 2022 to 2023, and then from 2023 to 2024. Entering Thursday’s game he was running play action just 17.6 percent of the time per Pro Football Focus.

Thursday the 49ers utilized play action on season-high 29 percent of Purdy’s dropbacks. It probably isn’t a coincidence that the uptick in play action usage came in the same game San Francisco posted a season-high 36 points and 483 total yards.

Purdy wasn’t as successful as usual out of play action Thursday, but his season numbers in that concept still outshine his numbers in non-play action.

In play action Purdy is completing 72.2 percent of his throws this season, averages 12.6 yards per attempt and has two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Without play action, Purdy is at 63.8 percent completions, 7.9 yards per attempt, seven touchdowns and four interceptions.

By getting their play-action game going against Seattle, they also got their rushing attack going with a season-high 228 rushing yards on 33 carries.

It’s clear the maximized version of the 49ers’ offense involves a heavy dose of play action that gets linebackers moving and playing slower than they might normally play. It worked Thursday night against the Seahawks, and it’s something they need to continue doing heading into a Week 7 showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Saints’ usage of play action, motion skyrockets in Klint Kubiak’s first game

Derek Carr used play action significantly more in his first game under Klint Kubiak than he did in 2023. The results speak for themselves:


The New Orleans Saints hired Klint Kubiak as offensive coordinator this offseason and changed schemes for the first time since Sean Payton was hired in 2006. The change in system directly impacts Derek Carr.

Kubiak’s system is most known for their run game concepts. We saw Alvin Kamara excel in Week 1 and easily could have toppled 100 yards rushing if he played the entire game.

Another new wrinkle is the emphasis on play action and pre-snap motion. This works hand in hand with the run game, and its effectiveness was on full display against the Panthers. Foster Moreau’s touchdown pass came off of play action. That’s a tool Carr has used well throughout his career but which Pete Carmichael was reluctant to embrace as the play caller last season.

In totality, Carr completed seven of his nine pass attempts after a play action fake for 58 yards. Most importantly, it resulted in four first downs and a touchdown. In Week 1, play action was used on 40% of Derek Carr’s dropbacks. That’s a huge jump from last year in which was slightly below 15%. It’s a prime example of how things are schematically different under Kubiak. Another one? Their use of pre-snap motion and shifts jumped by more than 38%. It’s a new day in New Orleans, and these changes might be enough to help them get back to the playoffs.

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Pete Carmichael gave the people what they wanted in Saints’ offensive eruption

Play action, pre-snap motion, and red zone creativity. Pete Carmichael gave the people what they wanted in the Saints’ offensive eruption:

Play action, pre-snap motion, and red zone creativity. Pete Carmichael gave the people what they wanted in the New Orleans Saints’ Week 5 offensive eruption, putting the New England Patriots away handily 34-0. Fans and analysts covering the team saw everything they had asked for from Carmichael’s offense on the afternoon.

The Saints ramped up the use of pre-snap motion in Week 5, going from ranking last to a rate that would place well inside the league’s upper half. That added hesitation as the defense was forced to account for a player in motion paid off in a big way to give the offense an advantage they desperately needed.

And play action picked up in the passing game, too; Derek Carr was able to use his forever-underrated athleticism to throw on the move and link up with Michael Thomas on a couple of big gains. Carr has the wheels to make plays as a runner and force defenses to respect him as more of a run threat. Getting him out of the pocket and in space has been an inefficiency for this offense that they’re now course-correcting.

We’d be remiss to not mention Carmichael’s gutsiest play call of the day: a shovel pass to tight end Foster Moreau on second down from the New England 6-yard line that asked him to follow his blockers into the end zone. That’s exactly the sort of innovation and creative use of personnel that’s been missing through the first four weeks of the season.

And the players took notice. Alvin Kamara praised Carmichael after the game, saying that “Pete was good today. It was good to see Pete out there having fun. It was like he took a deep breath and just exhaled.”

Will Carmichael keep it up in the months ahead? Let’s hope so. This was easily the most entertaining game of the Saints’ season so far, and results like this would go a long way towards quieting the discontent about his position on staff. He can’t keep running Sean Payton’s playbook for Drew Brees without Payton or Brees. Whether it’s done by choice or kicking and screaming, the Saints offense must be dragged into the modern era. They have too many talented personnel to settle for less. Sunday’s performance was a big step in the right direction.

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