Last year, the Miami Dolphins threw some passes out of the Wildcat formation.
So far this year? None.
And so, as Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald points out, opposing defenses are blitzing on every Wildcat play with running back Ronnie Brown taking the snaps, since there’s no threat of a deep ball to keep defenders back.
But, as Salguero also points out, Brown could soon be throwing the ball, again.
Of course, the Fins might be hinting about the possibility of Brown passing the ball in order to keep Chargers defenders away from the line of scrimmage on Sunday.
Either way, we can’t help but wonder (as pointed out in this week’s SportingNews.com 10-Pack) whether the Fins are spending too much time working on the Wildcat and not enough time focusing on other aspects of the offense.
Like deep passes out of the base offense.
Or the two-minute drill.
A failure of execution in both areas cost the Dolphins on Monday night against the Colts. And until the team’s defense can rise up and hold a lead that the methodical, plodding, ball-control attack is able to generate, the inability to generate yards in big chunks — especially with the game on the line — will make if very difficult for the defending AFC East champs to get back to the postseason.
Pennington? Throw deep?
The Wildcat works a lot better if your team plays good defense.
Florio, in your Sporting News article, you say that Adrian Peterson took his helmet off in the field of play in the game against the Lions. Watching the game live, I saw what actually happened. During the play, Peterson ran to the left and down the sideline. While he was being tackled, his helmet came partially off. After the tackle, he removed his helmet completely because it wasn’t on properly. As he returned to the Vikings huddle, he put his helmet back on. It was all in plain view of the officials who were right there, and no flag was thrown. No Lion was calling for a flag, either.
Pennington CAN’T throw deep. What planet have you been on the last 9 years and do they play football there? Not to say the inability to throw deep isn’t an issue. It’s huge. Just can’t do it with the guy who’s starting.
When are people going to stop thinking of the Wildcat as a gimmick? It is PART of the Fins basic offense. Get over yourselves.
Good point on the 2-minute drill – that was horrendous.
The Dolphins did most everything right offensively on Monday (except the 2-minute drill and Barbie-doll “OMG, don’t hit me, huge man in the big pads” Ginn dropping that pass in the endzone). This was, very much, on the defense (don’t know what they’re going to do with yet another top-notch TE today and nobody to cover/tackle him… Bunch of girls).
Look everyone,….the wildcat strategy did what it was designed to do against Indy, but on the next to last drive for Miami they settled for a field goal instead of actually trying to convert on 3rd and 5 (they ran some harmless crap play up the middle). If they actually threw the ball to try and pick up the first, they could’ve depleted the clock MUCH more. Instead, Miami left over 3 minutes left in the game for Manning and that is TOO EASY for him….
The coaching staff lost that game for Miami, not the wildcat effectiveness IMO.
leatherneck – Way to stay on topic.
The Dolphins are a team whose success is dependent upon a gimmick.
The first thing I would do, is line my best jamming cornerback up on the QB split out. As soon as the ball is snapped, I would drop him. Once or twice of that, they would think twice of splitting him out.
Its not like your gonna need more than man coverage, do you expect a running back to make a pin point throw? Leave 1 safety back, put 8 in the box, and a RB isn’t gonna make a throw like that. Then you have the run covered and this will go away.
nietzescher – Florio linked to the Sporting News article in the post.
If I were the Dolphins I would be sick of the words “tight end” right about now.
Joey Porter is questionable today. Was he injured during the Indy game? Maybe that hurt the Fins’ defense.
BTW, I’m not a fan of the Dolphins, but I have to say that “Fins Up!” is a great motto for the team.
The Chargers will win this one.
Actually, they have been throwing from the Wildcat formation. PTF favourite WVU allumni: Pat White missed a wide open Ginn Jr. on a deep middle throw. I know Pat is a qb, but he is used as a gimmick, not as a pure thrower.
Good joke Florio!! Deep passes out of the base offense. With Chad Pennington at qb? Are we talking 9 yard passes here?
As Ozzie Guillen would say: “Please!”
The wildcat is part of a lot of teams base offense. Look at the eagles. or I should say wait for the Eagles.
I have even seen highschool teams starting to use it.
I think that the people who don’t like it are the people it burns. If you watched the dolphins colts game, you would have seen how confused the colts defense was. I trully think that is no longer a gimmick play, but a great way to put a lot of excitement into the game.