CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns suffered a 21-15 loss to the Giants on Sunday afternoon at Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland’s offense has been a big storyline with a healthy Deshaun Watson at quarterback, the offseason moves which included hiring Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator, and trading for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy.
One element some felt we could see more of in 2024 was pre-snap motion; though Dorsey’s Bills offense finished 18th in pre-snap motion percentage (14.7%) in 2022, and Cleveland finished 31st (12.4%) in 2023.
Through 2024, the Browns had a 24.3% pre-snap motion percentage in Week 1, then a 49.2% pre-snap motion percentage in Week 2, per TruMedia.
Matching up against a Giants defense ranks 18th in passing yards allowed per game (205.5), and 28th in rushing yards allowed (163.0), how many times did the Browns use pre-snap motion in the loss?
Here’s our unofficial count of times in which the Browns used pre-snap motion on Sunday:
2nd series: On the fourth play of the drive, Cedric Tillman motioned from the left side to the right side of the field. On that play, Deshaun Watson completed a three-yard pass to Jerry Jeudy.
3rd series: On the first play of the series, Elijah Moore motioned from the left side to the right side of the field. D’Onta Foreman ran on the play for three yards.
4th series: Moore motioned from left to right again on the series’ first play, and Watson found Jerome Ford open in the middle for the two-yard pass.
On a first-and-10, the fifth play of the series, Amari Cooper ran from the left to the right side, and Watson found Jordan Akins for six yards.
5th series: On the first play of the drive, Moore lined up on the left side, and motioned as though he’d be running to the right side again, but studder-stepped within the pocket and went back to his original spot. Watson found Jeudy again for another three-yard pass on the play.
9th series: Moore motioned again, but Watson’s pass for Cooper was incomplete.
12th series: Moore moved once again from the right side to the left side of the field, on the first play of the drive, but Ford’s run was for no gain.
Unofficially, the Browns used pre-snap motion on seven plays during the game, and Elijah Moore was used for the motion in five of those plays.
Which is also an interesting nugget since Moore was targeted only three times on Sunday, and caught two of those passes for 17 yards, including a 12-yard reception.
None of the series’ where Cleveland scored included pre-snap motion, as well.
