Sean McVay Discusses Los Angeles Rams' Usage of 'Cheat' Motion

The Los Angeles Rams have officially hopped on the cheat motion bandwagon, adding more to the arsenal of head coach Sean McVay.

The NFL is a copycat league. No one knows that better than the innovators themselves who are constantly stealing motions, adjustments, and plays to best give their team a chance to win.

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is certainly not exempt from that classification. Sunday’s 26-9 win over the Arizona Cardinals saw Los Angeles further integrate a fairly new element into its offense, even if they’re still late to the party: cheat motion.

At its core, cheat motion takes a receiver and moves them horizontally on the same side of the field until the ball is snapped. This lets (typically fast) receivers generate momentum before their defender and opens up a wide array of options for the offense. Its popularity skyrocketed once the Miami Dolphins obliterated teams with it early in the season and has since spread virtually throughout the league.

Rams receiver Tutu Atwell attempts to make a play with the ball in his hands / © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Rams head coach Sean McVay spoke about incorporating it into the offense in Week 6.

“That elicits a certain response that can create some challenging things depending upon the principles of the defense that you're going against,” McVay said. “Whether it's creating access, whether it's creating new counts in terms of some of the ways that you have to match up with your match principles coverage-wise, or whether it creates favorable leverage.”

Interestingly enough, the Rams put receiver Tutu Atwell on that motion on Sunday, even when they weren’t dropping back to pass. The motion can help the run game, too, from distracting back-seven defenders to messing with communication. It helped fuel running back Kyren Williams’ big day. He ended Week 6 with 158 rushing yards.

“Certainly, those guys in Miami have done an outstanding job of it and I've seen it with a lot of these teams that like to utilize and implement motion pre-snap,” McVay added. “That just creates a little bit of conflict and you're kind of just changing that picture just before the snap is imminent for the defense.”

In a sport consistently won in the details, split-second hesitations can make or break a defense’s performance, so their offensive opponents are constantly trying to instill chaos. From the Dolphins to the rival San Francisco 49ers and seemingly every city in between, cheat motion is being used to do just that.

Expect to see more of it in Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.