The changes to the rulebook suggested that the league had targeted “cheat motion” for 2024. A source with knowledge of the situation said so, specifically mentioning the tactics of the Dolphins, 49ers, and Rams.
But then came a string of nothing-to-see-here comments and reports suggesting, from the perspective of officials who were visiting training camps and head coaches, that nothing about the aggressive pre-snap movements had changed. However, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel seemed to acknowledge a change was coming.
On Monday night, it arrived.
The Miami offense racked up five illegal shift fouls, including three on the same drive. McDaniel addressed it on Tuesday.
“Guys aren’t getting set fast enough,” McDaniel said, via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post. “So I have to take a look at the amount — you use motions and stuff to try to give players some advantageous situations, but you have to pull back from that if you can’t execute them because there’s no play that works that doesn’t even get a chance to get started.”
The question is whether the officials are officiating it differently, or whether the players are executing it differently.
“Well, they harp on a lot of the motions that we do . . . so they’re really making that an emphasis in the league,” receiver Jaylen Waddle said. “So it’s something that we’ve got to adjust to.”
Adjustment is the key. The Dolphins must adjust to what the officials are calling.
“The motioning part of our offense is something that our players have been good at in the past and have used it to create advantageous situations, but I mean, you just can’t keep doing the same thing,” McDaniel said. “You have to fully adjust if guys can’t execute in the moment of truth.”
That’s the key. Figuring out the rules, knowing what will draw a flag, and not doing it. Even if the end result is that what once was an advantage for the Dolphins and other teams has been neutralized.
