By Matt Valentine
Usually reserved for games played on Fridays or Saturdays the wildcat formation has found a home on Sundays.
The wildcat formation a formation popular among high school football coaches and some college coaches (or at least a variation thereof) has found its way to the Miami Dolphins playbook.
Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown taking a direct snap in the Wildcat formation
For those of us who enjoy watching football, but dont get too deep into the technical side of the sport here’s a very brief explanation of the Wildcat formation. The Wildcat is a variant of the single-wing formation which was founded by legendary coach Pop Warner in 1907. Basically, in the wildcat formation you have a running back that lines up in a simliar position to a quarterback in shotgun formation. This back will take a direct snap from the center while another back is sent in motion from a slot position just prior to the snap. Furthermore, it calls for an unbalanced, reshuffled line, often with two natural tackles playing on the weak side
The quarterback doesn’t even need to be on the field or can line up as a wideout in this formation. The formation is primiarly a run offense, but can be used to draw defenders in while a TE or WR sneaks out where he can receive a pass from the back.
Now the defense is left with a number of possible options: A. the back can take the direct snap and run the ball, B. the back can take the direct snap and hand off to the other back that is set in motion, or C. the back can take the direct snap roll out and look for a passing option downfield.
So, this leads us to Week 3 in the NFL the Miami Dolphins square off against the New England Patriots. The Dolphins lined up in the wildcat formation a number of times and guess what….it resulted in five touchdowns all accounted for by Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown, 4 TD’s on the ground and one through the air, when Brown connected with TE Anthony Fasano for a 19 yard TD strike. For once Bill Bellicheck and his famed genius was nowhere to be found. His defense looked lost every single time the Dolphins lined up in the wildcat and it resulted in 38-13 blowout. In total the wildcat formation was employed six times during the Dolphins, Patriots game…I’d day the results speak for themselves.
Ronnie Brown is the key to the wildcat formation success in Miami.
The Dolphins would employ the wildcat again in their week 5 match-up against the San Diego Chargers. And while the wildcat would have a limited success this time around (47 net yards gained), it still resulted in a key touchdown that would give the Dolphins the lead and an eventual victory.
The Dolphins head coach Tony Sporano who is in his first year with the team, has stated that the Dolphins are just scratching the surface of how the wildcat can be employed this season. So far, the wildcat has helped lead a team that was 1-15 last year to a 2-2 record this season, with wins over some of the AFC’s best teams.
Now the question becomes will the wildcat catch on elsewhere in the NFL? The Patriots used the formation in their game against the 49ers, and the Dolphins have no plans to stop using the formation, at least until it stops working. Like the spread offense that is sweeping college football and lighting up scoreboards, the wildcat may soon have NFL defensive coordinators scratching their heads and NFL offensive coordinators salivating at the mouth.