Pre-snap motion in the red zone left Kadarius Toney catching a Super Bowl touchdown without a defender close enough to challenge him. Five yards from the end zone, he started inward, planted and escaped back outside. Suddenly, Philadelphia’s coverage had a hole where a receiver should have had an escort. Patrick Mahomes delivered the go-ahead touchdown in Super Bowl LVII. Before long, Skyy Moore scored on a similar reversal from the opposite side.
The striking part was the empty grass. Near the goal line, where defenders crowd throwing windows, Kansas City manufactured catches without a fight. The Chiefs’ official game report traced both designs to film study. Their coaches had found a defensive response they could exploit.
Those touchdowns sharpen the question behind every motion call: which defender does the offense want to move? Sending a receiver across the formation can force a linebacker outside or trigger a coverage exchange. However, movement can also disturb a favorable matchup. The coordinator’s job starts with recognizing which picture the quarterback needs.
The league has not put motion away
NFL offenses continue to embrace movement. In his February 2026 analysis, PFF’s Daire Carragher reported shifts or motion on 63.9% of plays in 2025, up from 61.5% in 2024. Those figures cover the entire field; they do not establish whether usage declined inside the opponent’s 20. His report also found movement on 41% of plays in two-minute situations, showing how clock pressure changes offensive choices.
Anyone claiming coordinators are collectively abandoning pre-snap motion in the red zone needs to produce the red-zone numbers. The broad totals cannot settle that argument. Neither can a handful of static formations from one Sunday. Proving the trend requires year-over-year tracking that separates field position, down, personnel and different kinds of movement.
Watch the receivers’ feet and those distinctions become clear. One player might settle into a new alignment before the snap while another accelerates across the formation. The first gives the quarterback a revised picture to inspect. Movement continuing through the snap forces defenders to adjust as the play begins. Counting both under one heading can conceal the choice that matters.
The useful question survives without declaring a leaguewide retreat: when does movement improve the play, and when does the offense already have its opening?
Toney made Slay surrender the space he needed
Toney’s touchdown supplies a precise answer. Philadelphia’s own game account identifies Darius Slay following the receiver’s initial movement and signaling to teammates as Toney breaks back outside. The cornerback begins the sequence with his assignment in front of him. A change of direction leaves the receiver alone.
That detail gives the play its bite. Toney does not beat Slay by running past him downfield. Kansas City makes the corner respond to an apparent cross-formation route, then sends the ball toward the grass Toney just left. The Eagles’ recap records the result: a five-yard touchdown and Kansas City’s first lead.
Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy credited preparation in the Chiefs’ postgame report. “We saw something a little different on tape,” he said. The American Football Coaches Association subsequently diagrammed the coverage exchanges in its March 6, 2023, presentation, Super Bowl 57 In Motion. Its breakdown shows how the inward movement and sudden return attack defenders transferring responsibility.
That sequence explains pre-snap motion in the red zone better than any general appeal to creativity. The offense triggers a response, then attacks the opening. Mahomes can deliver immediately instead of waiting for a receiver to fight through contact.
However, the defender’s reaction remains essential. An opponent that handles the exchange cleanly can cover the same receiver running the same path. Copying Toney’s footsteps reproduces the movement. It does not guarantee the touchdown.
Kelce against Epps required a different answer
Kansas City’s opening touchdown in the same game solved another problem. From Philadelphia’s 18, Travis Kelce used short motion to help create a matchup against safety Marcus Epps. Kelce then beat Epps for the score, with Mahomes floating the pass over the safety into his tight end’s hands. NFL Next Gen Stats highlighted the matchup created by Kelce’s motion, while photographer Nick Wagner’s published image sequence captured the finish.
Here, pre-snap motion in the red zone helped arrange the confrontation Kansas City wanted. Kelce still had to win his route against Epps. Toney’s later reversal instead exploited a coverage exchange that left nobody close enough to contest the catch.
Those plays belong in different tactical conversations. One helps a premier tight end attack a particular defender. The other manipulates how defenders distribute assignments. Both involve movement, but the movement serves a different job.
The back of the end zone sharpens that distinction. At the 18, a receiver has more room to develop his break and force a defender to turn. Near the goal line, that space disappears quickly. A coordinator must fit the receiver’s destination beside his teammates’ routes and within the quarterback’s timing.
Stop moving when the job is done
The Kelce play also illustrates why a short adjustment can suffice. AFCA’s diagrams show him moving into a stacked alignment, with two receivers starting one behind the other. That arrangement forces the secondary to sort their releases and coverage responsibilities.
For pre-snap motion in the red zone, the destination deserves as much attention as the movement. Once the offense secures its desired alignment, another adjustment needs another reason. More activity does not necessarily give the quarterback a better throw.
That gives stillness a tactical purpose. A coordinator can preserve favorable leverage by snapping from the original formation. Simplicity earns its place when it helps the quarterback execute.
Familiarity does not cover the receiver
A year later, Kansas City again found open grass with a championship at stake. Mecole Hardman caught the three-yard overtime touchdown that ended Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs’ official historical account identifies the play as “Tom and Jerry.” Their game video shows Mahomes rolling right and finding Hardman uncovered in the flat.
The resemblance to Kansas City’s earlier successes invites an obvious question: how could another defense surrender that opening? Recognizing a concept and covering every route require different things. Defenders still have to communicate, exchange assignments and maintain leverage while receivers change direction.
That distinction keeps pre-snap motion in the red zone valuable against prepared opponents. Familiarity does not erase the execution demands. Nor should a coordinator assume that a familiar motion will automatically fool someone again.
The quarterback needs an answer when the defense handles it correctly. Which route comes next? Where does the ball go if the flat defender stays home? A useful design accounts for that response before the offense reaches the line. Kansas City’s examples show the reward when preparation and execution meet. They also set a higher standard than simply adding movement to a call sheet.
The next decision belongs to the defender
Before the next receiver starts across the formation, the coordinator should know whose feet he wants to move. Pulling a linebacker outside creates a different opportunity from changing who covers the tight end. Forcing a coverage exchange demands another calculation. Each objective should shape the motion’s direction, distance and timing.
The same discipline should govern decisions to stand still. A receiver with favorable leverage may benefit from an immediate snap. Watching the play clock, a quarterback may need to execute before another adjustment complicates the picture. Those are reasons to omit movement on a particular play. They do not establish a leaguewide shift.
Future analysis of pre-snap motion in the red zone should examine those decisions alongside the totals. Did a defender follow the receiver? Were two defensive backs exchanging assignments? Could the quarterback exploit the opening before it closed? The answers explain whether the motion helped.
Toney’s touchdown remains instructive because the finish looks so easy. Slay reacts to the initial movement, Toney reverses, and Mahomes delivers before the defense repairs the mistake. Film study and precise execution disappear inside a routine-looking catch.
For the next coordinator holding a red-zone call sheet, the challenge starts before the receiver takes his first step. Identify the reaction the play needs. Then confront the harder question: if that defender stays exactly where he belongs, where does the ball go?
READ MORE: Mobile Quarterbacks Turn Undisciplined Edge Rushes Into Perimeter Escapes
FAQs
What does pre-snap motion do in the red zone?
Pre-snap motion can change matchups, move defenders or trigger coverage exchanges. Its value depends on whether those reactions create a better opening.
Are NFL teams using less pre-snap motion in the red zone?
The article does not establish a red-zone decline. Overall NFL shift and motion usage increased in 2025, but those numbers cover the entire field.
How did Kadarius Toney get open in Super Bowl LVII?
Toney moved inward, then reversed outside. Darius Slay reacted to the initial movement, and the coverage left Toney open for a five-yard touchdown.
How did motion help Travis Kelce against Marcus Epps?
Short motion helped create Kelce’s matchup against Epps. Kelce then won his route and caught an 18-yard touchdown pass.
When should an offense avoid pre-snap motion?
An offense can stay still when its original alignment already provides favorable leverage. An immediate snap can also help when the play clock runs low.
