If it felt like Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp was all over the field on pretty much every play of Sunday night’s game, it wasn’t your eyes playing tricks on you. The Rams offense attacked the Lions defense with an unprecedented amount of pre-snap motion in Detroit’s Week 1 overtime win.
Kupp was the primary man in motion, and he was in almost constant motion. According to NFL NextGen Stats, the All-Pro wideout motioned pre-snap on 42 plays against the Lions. That’s the most of any player in a single game in the last seven years.
The motion is an effort to dictate coverage matchups and also tip off the offense to the called coverage scheme on a play. It’s something the Rams use liberally all the time, but it was in special abundance in Ford Field.
Also per NextGen Stats, Kupp was in motion at the snap of the ball 30 times. That’s six more than any other player in a game since 2017. Interestingly, Kupp held the prior mark, too.
Cooper Kupp had 42 snaps and 12 touches in motion in Week 1, the most by any player in a game over the last seven seasons.
Kupp was in motion at the snap on 30 plays, 6 more than any other player in a game over that time span.
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— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 9, 2024
It proved effective in setting up Kupp for a big night against the Lions. He caught 14 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, seeing an incredible 21 passing targets from Matthew Stafford.
Will future Lions opponents use the same tactic of heavy pre-snap motion? Possibly, but Kupp is a unique, high-level talent and Rams head coach Sean McVay is one of the best play-callers in the business. It’s hard to see that working for teams with inexperienced passing offenses like Chicago, Indianapolis or Tennessee in some coming weeks.