49ers Head Coach Calls Miami Dolphins Pre-Snap Motion “Cheating”

rsz tyreek hill dolphins david butler ii usa today sports
rsz tyreek hill dolphins david butler ii usa today sports

The Miami Dolphins have had a historically dominant offense through the first three weeks of the season, thanks in large part to the innovative scheme put together by head coach Mike McDaniel. There has been one wrinkle to Miami’s attack that has proven to be rather useful, and it is starting to draw the attention of the rest of the league.

Dolphins Pre-Snap Motion Is “Cheating”, Says 49ers Coach

At their disposal, the Dolphins have a nearly unstoppable weapon on wide receiver Tyreek Hill. He is widely regarded as the fastest player in the NFL, and his presence has turned Miami into a serious threat every time that they have the ball.

McDaniel has unlocked a strategy that makes Hill even harder to stop. Pre-snap motion is one of the staples of the scheme that the second-year head coach has implemented, and the Dolphins are using it in a new way. They are sending Tyreek Hill in motion, getting him running at full speed before the ball is even snapped. By the time the ball is in the quarterback’s hands, Hill is already five yards down field, most times leaving his defender in the dust.

The league has taken notice, and there are already some offenses who are copycatting.

Other Teams Already Trying The New Strategy

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan is the former mentor of McDaniel, as the two worked together with three different NFL franchises. He sees the innovation from his former colleague, and has gone as far as calling it “cheating”.

Mikes’ as good as anyone at trying stuff and being creative. They did that in Week 1 with the little cheat motion, we did it after we saw it, the Rams did about three times versus us in Week 2…It is a cool motion, and they got a cool guy to do it with…We call it ‘cheat’, yeah…because it’s cheating.

Shanahan gave the accusation through a smile.

The Dolphins take their show on the road this week, as they will travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills in what should be the game of the week. The Bills are currently favored by 2.5 points, but other statistical metrics are giving Miami the upper hand in the contest.

Through three games, Hill has 412 receiving yards and has caught 4 touchdowns.


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