No offense has caused defensive coordinators to lose sleep more often in the past two years than the Miami Dolphins. Not only do they have a ton of speed at their skill positions, but they also have one of the innovative play callers in head coach Mike McDaniel. One of the strategies he uses more than anyone else is constant pre-snap motion. His goal was to force the defense to show its hand and create extra space for his wide receivers and running backs. It led to their offense finishing #1 in the NFL last season. There is no way the Chicago Bears can be anything like that, right?
Nope. Brett Kollmann of The Film Room believes they can actually be better. He appeared on 670 The Score to talk about new quarterback Caleb Williams and what to expect from the Bears offense. He pointed out the growing trend of using pre-snap motion since Miami weaponized it. Defenses soon found a way to counter it by play man coverage across the board while putting two guys on whoever the motion man was. That is why Kansas City was able to stymie the Dolphins in the playoffs.
Kollmann explained why that tactic won't work against the Bears.
The Chicago Bears likely planned for all of this.
Remember that their first major off-season move was hiring Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator. He quickly earned a reputation in Seattle by utilizing lots of pre-snap motion. It was a big part of the passing game's ongoing success, even after losing Russell Wilson. Once the Bears found the guy who would utilize this philosophy, they needed to find players who could make it excel. They already had D.J. Moore as one piece of the puzzle. Next, they traded for Keenan Allen, one of the best route runners in football, and drafted Rome Odunze 9th overall. He is a master of winning one-on-one matchups.
That was Miami's Achilles heel. They had two wide receivers who could handle press coverage, but not three. By doubling Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle, opponents were able to minimize the damage because nobody feared Cedrick Wilson or Braxton Berrios. This doesn't even account for Cole Kmet, who brings problems of his own. He is considerably better than Durham Smythe. Kollmann is correct. This supporting cast has a chance to take that pre-snap motion offense to the next level.
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