The Detroit Lions under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson don’t use pre-snap motion a ton in the passing game, but when they do, it’s generally effective and explosive. Through the first three games of the 2023 NFL season, per Sports Info Solutions, quarterback Jared Goff has 45 dropbacks with pre-snap motion, which ranks 24th in the league. But with motion, he’s completed 31 of 41 passes for 357 yards, 231 yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 115.6 — fourth-best in the league.
One reason that the Lions are so good with motion is the precision of their receiver splits and concepts. Johnson sets Goff up to hit open reads with different motion ideas, including the speed motion that has taken the NFL by storm… especially in Miami.
This 22-yard pass to receiver Kalif Raymond against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3 had Raymond running across the formation pre-snap to get a full head of steam, and that put him ahead of cornerback DeAundre Alford in Atlanta’s Cover-3. Goff could turn his back with play-action and then hit his back foot to throw with confidence.
The good news for the Green Bay Packers, who the Lions face on Thursday night, is that their middle-of-the-pack defense is actually quite good when dealing with motion in the passing game. Joe Barry’s defense had allowed 26 catches on 37 attempts for 228 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 72.8, which is the NFL’s sixth-lowest.
This Rasul Douglas interception against the Atlanta Falcons and quarterback Desmond Ridder in Week 2 was a somewhat similar concept, with running back Bijan Robinson running that fast motion across. However, Robinson didn’t exploit the deep coverage against Cover-3 the way Raymond did for the Lions, and Ridder decided to throw over the middle, with far less than the desired effect.
There’s motion to indicate, and motion to disrupt. This appeared to be neither. The Lions will provide a tougher test for the Packers because of that offensive precision than the Falcons or Chicago Bears have.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys got deeper into that idea.
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“When you watch their offense, you just get a really strong sense that it all works together so efficiently, and very rhythmically,” Greg said. “It comes down to, how do you disrupt timing? There are different ways to do that, but you’re trying to disrupt timing.”
Option 1 for any defense to disrupt receiver timing is to press those receivers, but motion obviously complicates that equation.
“I spoke to a defensive coach this week who said that it’s possible to jam motions, but it takes a lot of work, and it’s very hard,” Greg continued. “The whole thing with dealing with receivers because the ball comes out quickly is that it’s tough deal when you deal with motion. It’s harder to jam receivers on the move, particularly when they’re motioning across the formation.”
Which the Lions can do very well.
You can watch this week’s full “Xs and Os” video with all the key matchups for Week 4 right here:
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