New Orleans Saints held the Miami Dolphins to 29 yards on 15 Wildcat plays
 

New Orleans Saints held the Miami Dolphins to 29 yards on 15 Wildcat plays
By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

Lost in all the wackiness of Sunday's come-from-behind win at Miami was the way the New Orleans Saints defense managed to tame the Wildcat, for the most part.
The Dolphins ran 15 plays out of the Wildcat formation (14 runs and one incomplete pass), gaining a total of 29 yards. They did score three touchdowns out of the formation, however - an 8-yard run by Ronnie Brown and two 4-yard runs by Ricky Williams.
Williams' 68-yard touchdown run in the first half came from a traditional handoff from quarterback Chad Henne.
Heading into Sunday's game, the Dolphins had been averaging 7.1 yards per play and 7.0 yards per rush out of the Wildcat formation (43 runs for 300 yards, two passes for 21 yards). So it was an impressive achievement for the Saints defense, especially in the final three quarters.
After the Dolphins got off to their quick start, the Saints began shutting down their run game. Eventually, Miami turned to its passing game, which turned out to be a disaster.
Over a stretch of nine Miami possessions from the second quarter through the fourth quarter, the Dolphins gained a total of three first downs. They went three-and-out six times (five punts and one field goal), fumbled once, threw one interception and scored one touchdown.
"I think the feeling going in was to try to defend the run. It was the No. 1 rushing team in football," said Payton, who said the Saints didn't make any adjustments to focus on the run once they got down 24-3. "I think the subtle adjustments came as the game unfolded with more and more pressure. I felt we tackled well in the second half, when you watch the tape, and I thought the blitz adjustment we had against their shotgun offense was effective in really neutralizing it and that was encouraging.
"I thought (defensive tackle) Anthony Hargrove, we just went through the grades as a staff and he's a guy that graded out well. (Cornerback) Jabari Greer graded out well. Of course (cornerback Tracy) Porter and (safety Darren) Sharper came up with big plays. (Safety) Roman Harper had one of his better games since he's been here. It's a good effort overall, especially as the game wore on."

Re: New Orleans Saints held the Miami Dolphins to 29 yards on 15 Wildcat plays
 

I am glad someone figured this out. I don't know how many times I heard during the first half from the commentators that the Saints couldn't stop the Wildcat. I wish my t.v. had kick-a-vision, because I would have Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked every commentator that made that comment, because they OBVIOUSLY weren't watching the Saints constantly stopping the run after Rickey ran the long one.

Re: New Orleans Saints held the Miami Dolphins to 29 yards on 15 Wildcat plays
 

True.

Re: New Orleans Saints held the Miami Dolphins to 29 yards on 15 Wildcat plays
 

Thank you Gregg Williams. :heart: