The Falcons spent two years under Zac Robinson using motion a lot, but not always using it well. That distinction matters, because the new staff has turned the same tool into something much sharper.
Atlanta ranked near the top of the league in pre-snap motion in Robinson’s two seasons, sitting at 63% in 2024 and 67% in 2025, per Jeff Kerr. The Rams were right there with them, and even hit 76.6% in 2024, according to the Rams’ official website.
But the difference, as multiple charts on X showed, was that Atlanta’s offense became easy to read while the Rams stayed unpredictable. Instead of motion creating stress for defenses, Robinson’s version too often gave the play away.
The most damaging pattern was simple: motions that should have created leverage for the run started telegraphing where the ball was going. If a tight end aligned weak and then motioned strong, the Falcons were almost always running that direction.
Rather than forcing defenses to communicate and guess, those looks helped them anticipate. The result was an offense that kept getting behind schedule, piling up penalties, giving defenders cleaner jumps on the snap, and putting even more pressure on execution.
That is what makes the current version of Atlanta’s offense so different. The Falcons brought in Tommy Rees and Kevin Stefanski this offseason, and the motion game has been a big part of why the unit has looked so effective over the last two weeks since Michael Penix Jr. returned.
Sharp Analytics has Atlanta around ninth with a 60% motion rate in 2026, but the number only tells part of the story. What Rees and Stefanski are doing with it is the real change.
Their motion is designed to help Penix Jr. get cleaner pre-snap reads and force defenses to show their hand earlier. It’s the kind of quarterback-friendly structure Kyle Shanahan talks about, and it’s also helping create one-on-ones for targets like Drake London.
The first play of the Falcons-Saints Monday Night Football game was a clean example. Atlanta lined up in 12 personnel with two tight ends and one running back, then had Charlie Woerner motion across to the left just before the snap.
The movement made it look like a run, but Penix Jr. pulled the ball from Bijan and threw to Drake London, who was waiting behind the line of scrimmage on the right side. The motion opened the screen, and London turned it into a first down.
Rees is also using motion to manipulate defenders before the snap in the run game. Jet motion can pull linebacker assignments out of place and open up lanes, especially on wide zone looks to the right.
Atlanta is also shifting bigger bodies all over the formation, moving tight ends and receivers on and off the interior to create mismatches. At times, Rees has even put three tight ends on the field before spreading them out wider.
That showed up in Week 2 against the Carolina Panthers. The Falcons broke the huddle in 13 personnel, but when they lined up, Drake London was in the in-line “Y” spot and Charlie Woerner was outside in the “Z” spot.
That setup created a mismatch with linebacker Devin Lloyd, and before Carolina could sort it out, Atlanta snapped the ball. London won the matchup, and the Falcons picked up 15 yards on a Cooper Rush throw.
That’s the difference now. Under Robinson, motion often fed the defense. Under the new staff, it’s feeding the offense.
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