Wildcat needs something...

[Dave Gray]

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.

[Spider-Dan]

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?

[StL FinFan]

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

[mecadonzilla]

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

[dolfan13]

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

standard run play                 4.8 ypc
wildcat                                  3.0 ypc

[mecadonzilla]

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.

[MikeO]

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.

[Spider-Dan]

standard run play                 4.8 ypc
wildcat                                  3.0 ypc

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

[dolfan13]

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.

[Tepop84]

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?

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.

[Spider-Dan]

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.

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.

[EDGECRUSHER]

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.

[Tenshot13]

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.

[bsfins]

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....

[mecadonzilla]

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.