The Miami Dolphins started using the wildcat formation in a win last year against the New England Patriots.
Yesterday the Dolphins went a whole game without using the wildcat for the first time since then, also in a win against the Patriots.
According to the Associated Press, the Dolphins had used the wildcat formation in all 25 games since they took the Patriots — and the league — by storm in that 2008 win. But without the injured running back Ronnie Brown, who takes the snaps and plays the key role in the wildcat, the Dolphins seem to have decided they don’t have the right personnel for it anymore.
That’s not to say the wildcat is done in Miami: The Dolphins still use it at times with Ricky Williams taking the snaps, and backup quarterback Pat White is also an option in the wildcat.
But after Chad Henne threw for 335 yards and led the Dolphins to a much-needed AFC East win, the wildcat is no longer integral to the Dolphins’ offense.
First.
I guess you don’t count when they used the wildcat for a 12 yard loss with Pat White on an option……..
That’s not true. They ran it with Pat White at least 2 times that I can remember – once down inside the NE 20(White kept it), and another time where White optioned it to Ricky and practically threw it away.
Why run when your QB has 3 minutes to scan the field and wait till someone gets open?
What about the play where pat white fumbled the ball after a banta-cain hit? and i think he was in for one more play somewhere…
Wanna bet that Belichik game planned for it?
i’m pretty sure i saw pat white play 1-2 snaps yesterday. and if that’s not wildcat, i don’t know what is.
The wildcat is done until they get a guy who can legitimately run between the tackles as a RB *and* pass.
Otherwise, teams will stack the line on wildcat, and dare you to throw knowing that the most likely result is an interception.
>>mannyfresh209 says:
>>December 7, 2009 7:11 PM
>>i’m pretty sure i saw pat white play 1-2 snaps >>yesterday. and if that’s not wildcat, i don’t >>know what is.
you’re right about not knowing
Pat White runs a spread offense not the WC
Pat White’s package is not the Wildcat, it’s the standard option. The Wildcat uses motion by the WR (usually Ricky Williams) and is often from an unbalanced line, though not always.
>>>The Wildcat uses motion by the WR (usually Ricky Williams)
The Wild Cat, the Run and Shoot, the spread option, whatever gimmick offense is the crap duJour, all you’re doing is taking a formation almost everybody has in there offense and leaning on it, probably because of personnel, or lack thereof. Sooner of later, everybody shuts it down and you move on. I think the latest fad, the direct snap or Wildcat, started making it’s exit yesterday.
Only works if you have 2 good poundem runners to split the d, one of whom would block after the option. A guy like Pat White? He’s no threat to hit the hole and he won’t hurt anyone.
pretty sure the wild cat / was… PAT WHITE. Which came in for 2 plays. But that could constitute as a regular QB play. Dunno. It wasn’t a direct snap to ricky however.
I just wish they would get rid of the Pat White experiment… its going no where. I’ve been seeing less and less pat white which could mean him and ginn will be gone next year.
“I think the latest fad, the direct snap or Wildcat, started making it’s exit yesterday.”
let’s hope so …..
EVERY announcer seems to call any play where someone other than the traditional QB takes the snap the wildcat. They are wrong 95% of the time…as are all of you humanoids saying the plays with Pat White were the wildcat. the wildcat is a specific formation that miami DID NOT RUN at all yesterday, and I believe has NEVER been run with Pat White on the field at all this season.
you’re all wrong, except those saying pat white ran the wildcat. for those saying “TECHNICALLY” he didn’t run it, go be a nerd elsewhere. you’re the dirtbags who don’t pay when losing a bet because technically you didn’t shake hands with the person you made the bet with. good day.
And Miami almost completely abandoned the running game entirely (25 running plays from all backs versus 52 pass attempts can be treated as zero running when talking about the run heavy Fins).
I’d happily wager $100 with anyone who thinks the Wildcat is done that we’ll see it soon enough (although maybe not the Jags who are lousy against the pass but excellent against the run; expect to maybe see it against a resurging Tenn, but most assuredly against the Texans in three weeks).
One technical difference that distinguishes the “Wildcat” from any halfback option or QB draw is an unbalanced line. I imagine that is what the AP is using to differentiate between a Pat White QB draw and a “Wildcat” play.
I didn’t see the game so I don’t know if the Dolphins used an unbalanced line at any point. Just some speculation…
10f40000, when Ronnie was still healthy, half of the Wildcat plays this year were not out of the unbalanced line formation — they were actually using a 2 tight end conventional set often. So last year, yes, I would say the wildcat was an unbalanced line with a direct snap to a RB with another RB in motion sweeping across the snap AND even include the QB split wide. Last year there were also several direct snaps to Ronnie that weren’t true wildcats. This year they have hardly had the QB on the field for the formation and the unbalanced line has been used much less frequently — so, no, the wildcat has evolved and doesn’t necessarily involve an unbalanced line. I don’t consider the pistol or other option plays with Pat White wildcats, but now the team considers almost any direct snap to Ricky or Ronnie with similar wildcat options a wildcat play.
By the way, the Fins frequently used an unbalanced line against the Pats, but they were conventional pass plays.
deeznutz:
the formation that involves Pat White and option crap is called “the pistol” and has as much to do with the WildCat as your girlfriend with a tigerstripe bra