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Bucs defense ready for a wildcat strike

The Associated Press

Ronnie Brown and Dolphins are the league's fourth-ranked rushing team at 150.9 yards per game.

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By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 15, 2009

Updated: 11/15/2009 12:53 am

MIAMI - Barrett Ruud was feeling pretty good about the Bucs' victory against the Packers when he woke up Monday. Then he sat down and watched the tape of that game.

"I felt like we played pretty well in that game," the Bucs' middle linebacker said. "But then I realized that we still gave up 28 points and 170 yards rushing."

Yeah, and on the heels of that, here come the Miami Dolphins and the wildcat formation, that "fad" of an offensive attack in which a running back lines up at quarterback in the shotgun formation. The wildcat has produced an average gain of 5.2 yards this season for the Dolphins, the league's fourth-ranked rushing team at 150.9 yards per game.

"It's obvious we still have a lot of work to do, especially with the wildcat coming," Ruud said. "They are probably somewhat average offensively. But their offense really picks up with the wildcat."

In the typical Miami wildcat formation, running back Ronnie Brown takes the direct snap while running back Ricky Williams goes in motion across the formation. Brown can either keep the ball and run, hand off to Williams or, in rare instances, throw the ball downfield.

From the time they unveiled it last year until their bye in Week 6 this year, the Dolphins averaged 6.6 yards out of the wildcat. In three games since the bye, though, the Dolphins have struggled to get significant yardage out of it, gaining just 54 yards in 30 plays for an average of 1.8 yards.

"Teams are obviously starting to put a lot of work into (stopping) it," Brown said.

Compared to how often Miami actually uses the wildcat, the time opponents spend preparing for it seems a little out of whack. The Bucs, for example, spent about 30 percent of their time during the week prepping for a formation the Dolphins have used only about 12 percent of the time since first surprising the New England Patriots with it early last season.

"That's the thing," Bucs defensive coordinator Jim Bates said. "You have to prepare for it because there's some games when they run it 18, 20, 22 times. And what that does is, it takes away from your preparation for everything else."

That reduced prep time could prove quite damaging today. The Bucs have not been very stout against the run, ranking 30th in the 32-team league in allowing 163.4 yards per game. Three opponents - Buffalo, the New York Giants and Carolina - tallied more than 200 yards each.

Several players on the defensive side of the ball, however, believe the Bucs finally are on the verge of making a substantial breakthrough against the run. Ruud believes the Bucs are growing more comfortable with Bates' scheme and hopes that will result in fewer missed tackles and blown gap assignments.

Defensive tackle Ryan Sims hopes the improved play of the Bucs offense will continue, because he sees a direct tie between the play of the offense and defense.

"Early in the season we were on the field so much that we just got tired out," Sims said. "Once a defense gets tired, it's easy to run on them. So, if we can get the offense clicking, we can stop teams from running on us so much."

Fatigue shouldn't be a problem today. Much as they did last week, the Bucs intend to make generous use of as many as eight defensive linemen, including youngsters Tim Crowder, Michael Bennett and Kyle Moore.

The Bucs also intend to make more use today and in the weeks to come of linebacker Adam Hayward, who apparently has earned the right to split snaps with Quincy Black at the strongside position.

"I think what we're going to do is try to rotate some of the bigger bodies in there, because the wildcat is really just a downhill running attack," Hayward said. "It's really just hit the gap and let's go."

It's a little more than that. After all, unless Pat White is inserted into the lineup, there's usually no quarterback when the wildcat is in play. Because the quarterback typically is unaccounted for in defensive schemes, having a running back at that position commonly results in an extra gap being created up front.

A lot of NFL teams try to counter that by walking a safety into the box and assigning him to that extra gap, but the Bucs will probably take a slightly different approach. Because they view the scheme much like the option many college teams run, their plan is to assign specific players to specific elements of the wildcat.

"You've got to have someone on the quarterback, someone on the pitch, someone on the alley guy," Ruud said. "It's good, old-fashioned option football, which I should know pretty well coming from Nebraska."

Ruud may know the option and therefore the wildcat, but he may not be quite as familiar with the "pistol" formation the Dolphins tend to employ when White, the former West Virginia quarterback, enters the game.

The pistol calls for the quarterback to line up a few steps closer to the center than in the shotgun and, in addition to providing a better pass option, allows the offense to run its play at a quicker pace.

The key to stopping the pistol, though, is really no different than stopping the wildcat. It's all a matter of defenders knowing and executing their assignments.

"That's all it is," Bucs coach Raheem Morris said. "It's option, assignment football. It's Elon College vs. Hofstra. It's Navy vs. Notre Dame. If everybody does their job, you're good. You just have to be ready to deal."

Reporter Roy Cummings can be reached at (813) 259-7979.

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