Moore isn’t even on the field on this play – Curtis Samuel’s in the slot instead for a fairly simple play with the inside run fake designed to hold the linebackers inside and the toss to McCaffrey on the motion designed to take advantage of the space created on the edge as a result. Again, this actually isn’t the best read by Newton – the linebacker commits outside pretty early and while the play would have struggled inside due to Turner’s slip, there was a chance for a chunk play inside here. Like the previous play, this is essentially a triple option play with a slight twist designed to keep the defense off balance. But what does this have to do with Moore – he wasn’t even on the field?
It is relevant because this play design is something the Panthers have run a reasonable amount this season – the Ravens had clearly seen it before on tape (you can even see Mosley (57) pointing to McCaffrey before the throw above) – so when the Panthers ran a very similar look earlier in the game, the Ravens began to dive the screen to McCaffrey as soon as the handover fake was complete. Only here, rather than using Moore and Funchess as blockers in the same way as the receivers on the earlier play, they instead ran them across behind the linebackers for an easy completion:
This is a really nice play design by Norv Turner, and while he won’t be able to use it too often, it has the effect of slowing down that edge pursuit towards McCaffrey on the swing pass as the linebackers are then wary of being beaten over the top. What is again worth noting, however, is how Moore is able to turn a short completion into a longer play, and while other receivers would likely have been just as open on this play, few would have got as much out of it as Moore does here.
Using the look of a previous to play to trick a defender into committing the wrong way is classic offensive design, but it’s used to absolute perfection here and could allow for even more change and misdirection in the future – the linebackers now must think twice as Moore comes back over the middle before committing to McCaffrey, and that moment of hesitation might be just enough to spring a big play.
Trickeration Sensation
As well as the conventional option attack, Turner has also looked to use some jet motion plays in his offense, especially in recent weeks, and had it not been for a slip, Moore would likely have had a touchdown here to go with Samuel’s touchdown run last week against the Eagles:
The run fake to McCaffrey appears to mostly be used to freeze the edge defender to allow the offensive linemen to get outside of him to cut him off from the reverse. The offensive line does an excellent job here of initially holding off the Ravens defensive line before shifting outside to create the cut-off blocks; Ryan Kalil shows some good awareness in coming back to make the cutoff block on the pursuing defender – a better block from McCaffrey and some more secure footing for Moore and this play would almost certainly have ended in six. This is not something the Panthers could run with regularity as plays like this have a reasonably strong dependence on surprising the defense, but some days everything just goes your way and the Ravens fell for this play hook, line and sinker.
Up Next: Moore As A Wide Receiver
