Is wildcat on way out in Miami? Win over New England without it may signal change, for now

Is Miami dumping tricky wildcat? Maybe, for now

DAVIE, Fla. — The wildcat formation got an unexpected bye week in Miami.

The Dolphins played the entire game without using it once in their 22-21 win over the Patriots on Sunday.

The streak ended against New England, one of the teams that has had trouble stopping it in the past.

Dolphins coaches have been considering what to do with the wildcat for a few weeks, after running back Ronnie Brown had a season-ending injury against Tampa Bay last month.

Brown has been successful running the formation.

Ricky Williams has taken over Brown’s workload, including a handful of wildcat plays the past few games. But Miami (6-6) ran only 13 against three opponents — less than the team used in several single games.

“We just, we didn’t have it ready and up right now,” coach Tony Sparano said. “To be honest with you, you know, we had two plays on the game plan sheet we thought were maybe good plays if we needed to go to it.”

It’s not exactly the end of the wildcat. Sparano says they’ll consider running it based on the opposing defense.

The formation produced nine Miami touchdowns in 2008 and seven so far in 2009.

The Dolphins drafted speedy quarterback Pat White, but he hasn’t played much. White has 50 yards rushing and three incomplete passes this season

The Dolphins said they’ve developed a wildcat-like package for White, but Sparano thinks he needs more game experience. White had the ball in his hands twice on Sunday, fumbling once and getting stuffed for no gain on the other.

“What they were going to do yesterday was hurry him. They were going to hurry him and scrape the linebacker over the top to handle the pitch, which we were prepared for,” Sparano said. “But you just don’t get that kind of look in practice. I mean, we’re not going to tee off on Pat in practice, so it’s happening a little bit faster than it normally does.”