The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I am not seeing anything productive about the Wildcat anymore.  With an O-Line that can't run-block or get any push, it's just absolutely ineffective at this point in time.  It's essentially a waste of a down.  We need to either do some different things with it (not just run Ronnie straight ahead), perhaps pass or maybe put it on the shelf for a game.

It also seems that we use it at the wrong time.

There were three Wildcat plays in this game.

# (8:10) (Shotgun) Direct snap to 23-R.Brown. 23-R.Brown right end to MIN 18 for 5 yards (56-E.Henderson).
# 1-10-MIN 16 (6:49) (Shotgun) Direct snap to 23-R.Brown. 34-R.Williams left end to MIN 10 for 6 yards (20-M.Williams).
# 2-3-MIN 3 (5:27) (Shotgun) 71-C.Procter reported in as eligible. Direct snap to 23-R.Brown. 23-R.Brown right guard to MIN 5 for -2 yards (98-L.Guion).

3 plays, 9 net yards... against one of the best run defenses in the league.

What people need to remember is that Wildcat plays are (for the most part) still run plays.  Against strong run defenses, it's not going to magically turn into a win button; it's a play that you call when you would have ran the ball anyway.

Is there really a convincing argument for a standard run play over a Wildcat play?

^ In theory, you have one more blocker if the QB is off the field.

The Wildcat seemed to work well when the Fins used it today.  What was the problem with it?

standard run play                 4.8 ypc
wildcat                                  3.0 ypc

At some point, the Fins are going to need to throw out of that formation.  What better time to do it than against the aggressive Jets.

Gotta start throwing more out of it. Keep other teams honest. And not just 1 pass like we did last year. Maybe 1 pass a game.

In related news, Ronnie averaged 6.1 ypc today!  So why didn't we just run Ronnie on every down?

We are all aware of why the standard run play ypc was so high, and why that is not exactly a useful comparison in this game.  If I wanted to post a similarly unhelpful metric, this one would probably suffice:

carries per turnover for wildcat: infinite (0 turnovers)
carries per turnover for standard run play: 12

what else would you use to measure whether or not a play was effective?

3 plays for 9 yards was all the wild cat did. it wasn't very good, and the base set running offense was better.

There were more than 3. I am pretty sure that 2nd and 4 at MIN 10   (Shotgun) R.Williams left end to MIN 3 for 7 yards (B.Leber). was a wildcat too, they just didn't put direct snap. I think there were others too, but I just don't feel like looking them up.

Take away the best and worst runs from each set, and the Wildcat averages 5.0 ypc, while our standard set averages 2.6 ypc.

Do you really want to define which set is better by one solitary play?  Because that's what you're doing right now.

Maybe I am biased because I am against it at this point, but I haven't seen it used successfully in quite a long time because everyone knows they are going to run it. We crushed the Pats with it because we threw it and they had no clue. Now, everyone has a clue.

I saw all of the wildcat plays before I went to work...or at least most of them...it may just be me, but I was shitting myself when he would hand it off to Ricky.  Ricky had to do a double clutch to secure the ball on two accounts.  It has more to do with Ronnie reading what option is better last minute than Ricky's hands, but man, it's becoming a little more sketchy then it used to be.  I dunno if I want to trash it or not at this point...I'm still making up my mind...I just wanted to throw that out there.

IMO,part of the problem is almost every team in the league has tried to run their version of the wildcat,teams have a pretty good idea how to stop it.It's not as confusing (or shocking),and defensive coordinators know to go to certain defense against it, so it's not taking practice time away to prepare for it....

It's been mostly hit or miss for a long time.  Mostly miss, I suppose.

But it still requires our opponents to spend valuable practice time on it.  I doubt there's much else that requires our weekly foes to focus on these days.  

It's not totally useless, as it can still gain yards.  But until the team proves it is willing to do something besides Ronnie up the middle or handing off to Ricky on a sweep, our options are going to be limited.

Again:

Why is a Wildcat run play any worse than an orthodox run play?

^

I think the argument can be made that it's disruptive to the flow and rhythm of our traditional offense.  ....or at least it's not performing well enough to warrant the personnel change.  The Wildcat was "worth it" because it had the ability to produce big plays.  Now, however, that every team seems extremely prepared for it, it's not catching anybody off guard and the results are on par with your regular running offense.

Every team has the shotgun in their offense too. Every team has devised a way to line up against it. Should we stop using that? I really don't know what people expect. This isn't a gimmick play anymore. This is a formation, just like every other formation in football. The idea isn't to confuse as much as it is to add other formations and create mismatches. I can't understand why everyone is so dead set on scrapping the Wildcat. I saw it run successfully twice (I consider 5 & six yard runs successes but everyone else is saying the plays failed) and failed once. I think you guys expect every time we line up in that formation that we should score at will like when we opened it up against NE. That isn't going to happen. It is just a set of plays like any other set of plays we have.

I agree. It's a nice conservative play that guarantees we won't throw an INT.

I hate to be cynical but I really hated the Wildcat way back when so It has onlyu gotten worse. Of course i also hate that we won't let our QB play QB so we might as well run the Wildcat.

While what you're saying is true,but apples to oranges...(especially the way we use it)....I agree it's a formation,but it's a running formation that we only run two plays out of it...Ricky on the end around sweep,or Ronnie picking his hole up the middle....If you got in the shotgun,and only ran the same two plays,a draw, and an end around...I'd complain too...

I hate the Wildcat as much as anyone but I bet we use it to do something different against either the Jets or the Pats. Seems like we use them to try out our new tricks. 

WC is still effective but I think would be more effective if they passed more especially in red zone situations. Right now defenses pack the line cuz they know Fins never throw.

That's the point.  It's a change of pace from an orthodox run play.

And I don't buy the argument that Henne staying in and handing the ball off to Ronnie keeps him more "in rhythm" than splitting wide or heading to the sideline.  It's ridiculous.  If anything, I'd argue that Henne could use those downs to observe the opposing defense more thoroughly (without worrying about what he needs to do) and potentially pick up on something that he can't see while under center.

When they stopped throwing out of the wildcat, it lost it's effectiveness.

We will throw out of it in games against teams we play twice a year. Teams that have seen it more.

Minny has never seen our version of it, so throwing in wrinkles to it vs them makes little sense. The whole thing is a wrinkle to them. Vs Jets, Ravens, Pats...etcs teams that we play year after year that is when you break out the wrinkles

I question whether or not it's a wrinkle to anyone anymore, though.  Everyone sees the tape and practices for it.  (which is probably reason alone to keep at it.)


I see the argument that it's a formation, not a gadget play, and I used to say the same thing, except we only run 2 plays from the formation, as stated above.  It is scripting your move to the defense.  At least when you have a QB under center, they have to be prepped for a pass.

I don't want it gone, by the way...I just want to see us do more with it, if we're going to use it.

Some teams can't stop it at all. Some teams can.

So its smart to run it a few times a game and see how our competition handles it. I mean we have seen teams who look totally lost still to this day when we line up that way.