Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham
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| | AP Photo/Winslow Townson |
| | Ronnie Brown did it all last Sunday, including tossing a touchdown pass to Anthony Fasano. |
The Miami Dolphins' novelty offense has dominated much of their bye-week talk. The single-wing package is an amusing diversion in a league that far too often looks homogenous from game to game, week to week.
So when a running back scores four touchdowns and throws for another while taking direct shotgun snaps and the quarterback is split out as a receiver, people will talk about it. And that Ronnie Brown did all of that to propel the Dolphins past the bewildered New England Patriots makes their unusual offense all the more fascinating.
"It's more fun," Dolphins running back Ricky Williams said. "The same old running back right, running back left can get a little old. When you can mix it up like this and have success it's something that we can proud of."
The thing is, the Dolphins used their Wildcat package only six times out of their 57 plays, 10.5 percent. The results were dramatic -- five touchdowns or first downs that first silenced the Gillette Stadium crowd, then had them booing and eventually sent them to the exits way early.
But the Dolphins would have won had they not used those plays.
They simply were better than the Patriots on Sunday, and now that we've all had fun breaking down the Wildcat, let's give full credit where it's due.
Miami's comprehensive effort should be lauded as more than the product of gimmickry.
The Wildcat accounted for 100 rushing yards, including a 62-yard run with the Dolphins already firmly in command.
Take away the Wildcat plays and:
- The Dolphins still had 342 net yards to the Patriots' 216.
- The Dolphins ran for 116 yards, a 3.7-yard average per carry. The Patriots had 59 rushing yards for a 3.7 average.
- Chad Pennington still completed 17 of his 20 passes for 226 yards and no interceptions. He owned the middle of the field throughout the game.
- Pennington wasn't sacked. Matt Cassel was dropped four times and threw an interception.
"You just feel like whatever's called, good things are going to happen," Pennington said Wednesday. "To have that feeling, it doesn't get any better than that. That's a good feeling to have.
"What you can't fall asleep and forget about is that it doesn't happen like that. That's a rare occurrence."
Miami drove to New England's 2-yard line before the first Wildcat play was called on second down for the opening score. Miami didn't use the Wildcat at all on the 79-yard drive that gave it a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.
Non-Wildcat plays accounted for more than half of Miami's yardage on a 77-yard drive that produced a 21-6 lead before halftime.
The Dolphins also drove to the Patriots' 19-yard line without a Wildcat play before Brown sprung his TD pass to Anthony Fasano. Dan Carpenter's late field goal was set up by a seven-play series sans Wildcat.
So keep that in mind when you think of the Dolphins. As compelling as the highlights were from Sunday's game, they weren't only the more resourceful team. They were the better team.
