Without Whitner and Scott the Wildcat will run wild

[BillsWin]

Hear me out. Despite your hatred or dislike of Whitner, he has always been a solid run-defender at the safety position. His knocks come from lack of big game changing plays that are usually second nature with a top ten pick.

I think he was set to have his "light bulb" year this year. Through the first few games he looked pretty good. (No, I am not dwelling on his one interception.) he was a sure tackler and made some key stops. Most of his involvement came in the run-game.

Scott is what he is, a solid, reliable starter. Not a pro-bowler, but a pretty good player and someone you don't worry about very often.


Now we have George Wilson and a rookie in there at safeties. Miami is going to have a field day on our DB's running that wildcat unless our d-line and linebackers step it up this week. They've had a good few weeks, but I would feel much, much better had Poz not been hurt. Where is the run support going to come from????

I'm really, really worried that both of our starting free safeties are out, especially when facing an offense like this.

Now, I know everyone is going to say that "Henne is the QB." Well, Henne has a good arm believe it or not. He can throw the long ball when needed, and Miami can run easy.

Can Wilson and Byrd keep up?


That is my biggest concern. As for our offense I think things will be just fine Sunday. I have a feeling that we will get the ball to the right people.

If we dont however, I think it is time to start looking at Trent a little bit harder.

If we are calling so many dink and dunk plays, why isnt he checking out of them to take a shot down field? He has the power in the no-huddle to do just that.

Also, I doubt we call underneath passes EVERY play. The QB sometimes just has to go for it.

Anyway, Bills 28 Fish 17

Lets Go Buffalo!

[PECKERWOOD]

It's a gimmick, I thought that the Wildcat could potentially have long term viability in the NFL, but since then my opinion has changed. I expect our defense to hold Miami to under 20 pts.

[HHURRICANE]

Will it be Trent's fault when Chambers and Scott can't give him to to throw???

[PECKERWOOD]

Will it be Trent's fault when Chambers and Scott can't give him to to throw???

I'm going to assume that you meant time to throw, just a typo but I understand where you are going with it and this is probably the wrong thread for it, but ofcourse he will be unrightfully blamed for it.

[BillsWin]

Will it be Trent's fault when Chambers and Scott can't give him to to throw???

No, that is another thing to worry about.

But good quarterbacks learn to adapt too.


We may be running ALOT of screens Sunday...

I hope Bell gets back soon, or we go right on ahead and sign Runyan or another vet.

[OpIv37]

Whitner's not that great of a run defender. He sometimes takes bad angles (although admittedly has improved in this area) and whiffs at the LOS at times as well, but no one remembers those plays. They remember the ones he makes.

But anyway, I agree with your general premise. There is a reason why Wilson and Byrd are on the bench. They're not as good as Whitner and Scott. The injuries on D will hurt.

[yordad]

Yes, I am worried about it too.

[PECKERWOOD]

Whitner's not that great of a run defender. He sometimes takes bad angles (although admittedly has improved in this area) and whiffs at the LOS at times as well, but no one remembers those plays. They remember the ones he makes.

But anyway, I agree with your general premise. There is a reason why Wilson and Byrd are on the bench. They're not as good as Whitner and Scott. The injuries on D will hurt.


I'm beginning to second thought my comments about calling Whitner a bust, he looked pretty good so far this year, I hope it continues when he comes back.

[Buffalogic]

Hey if you're qb stinks and you don't need what should be your best player on the field, then the wildcat is good. No sense in teams with good qbs to pull them for some garbage formation though.

[Vampire Baby]

Miami's Wildcat can gash a defense and at times id tough to stop once it gets rolling. Everyone calls it a gimmick but it can be quite effective. Look for the dolphins to use it to protect Chad Henne and establish a ground game. Henne will take a few shots but the Fins will play conservative.

On the flipside the Dolphins have been pretty bad this season so far with the defense. We've had a tough time covering TE's and are guilty of overpursuing. The pass rush has been non creative and Porter more than likely won't be on the field.

I'm new to the site so take it easy on me.

[Mahdi]

We should use a lot of 46 defense on Sunday.

IMO we should play with 4 DL and 4 LB most of the game with 1 high safety and force Henne to beat us all day. Shut down their run game. Harris can play as the 4th LB.

[Pinkerton Security]

Miami's Wildcat can gash a defense and at times id tough to stop once it gets rolling. Everyone calls it a gimmick but it can be quite effective. Look for the dolphins to use it to protect Chad Henne and establish a ground game. Henne will take a few shots but the Fins will play conservative.

On the flipside the Dolphins have been pretty bad this season so far with the defense. We've had a tough time covering TE's and are guilty of overpursuing. The pass rush has been non creative and Porter more than likely won't be on the field.

I'm new to the site so take it easy on me.

Your first part is right, but I think having Chad Henne instead Noodle-arm will be a big drop-off for them...Pennington is a smart Qb and has a ton more experience than Henne, obviously, so i think we should stack the box and make Henne beat us with his arm. I too am scared of the Wildcat so they better have prepared for it.

[Vampire Baby]

Your first part is right, but I think having Chad Henne instead Noodle-arm will be a big drop-off for them...Pennington is a smart Qb and has a ton more experience than Henne, obviously, so i think we should stack the box and make Henne beat us with his arm. I too am scared of the Wildcat so they better have prepared for it.

Henne's inexperience is definitely my biggest fear. You just never know how it will go with a young QB who is really a rookie starting in his first game. I'm hoping the Dolphins won't be too gun shy with him and let him take some shots because I'm sure the Bills will be stacking the box and sending pressure.

The Dolphins will mostly rely on the running game in this one for obvious reasons. There is a reason they are 3rd overall in rushing. The OL has been beating the defense at the point of attack and clearing lanes even when they are stacked. My concern is trying to protect Henne in the pocket. The Dolphin's pass protection has been pretty bad so far but you know how it goes. You can't run every down and sooner or later Henne will have to throw. Like I said I would like to see the Dolphins have Henne take some shots down the field occasionally but we will see heavy doses of Wildcat in this game.

[trapezeus]

dolphin's wildcat is tough because they have two good runningbacks. So you have to kind of stay at home and watch the motion back and the QBpositioned RB. And they are very good at hiding who gets the ball immediately. Most teams don't disguise it well and you know its the featured back running into the line of scrimmage.

The dolphins mix is up alot and ronnie brown has shown he can throw it out of the backfield. So the formation is a bit of a gimmick, but it's one that works well for the dolphins.

I agree without your starters, stuffing the already deadly run tandem of miami will be tough. that's why it's on the offense to take miami out of its grind the clock mentality. make them throw. Get out of the wildcat.

That's why sparano (sp?) is a good coach. he has put things down that is good for the talent he has. If he switches as the talent changes, he's a good evaluator of what he has and how to get the most out of them.

[madness]

Wildcat = less than 8 plays a game

If they beat us, it won't because of the Wildcat.

[Pinkerton Security]

Wildcat = less than 8 plays a game

If they beat us, it won't because of the Wildcat.

unless 2 or 3 of those wildcat plays in the game are 30+ yard gains, or gashes us like it did vs. NE last year the first time

[Wittman21]

they ran it 13 times against the cols

[DolphinFanInPeace]

It's a gimmick, I thought that the Wildcat could potentially have long term viability in the NFL, but since then my opinion has changed. I expect our defense to hold Miami to under 20 pts.
It is not a gimmick...Just ask the Colts. Or maybe you could ask the other teams that have gotten steamrolled by it. When teams pose and try to run it halfway, it may be a gimmick, but the Dolphins run it great. The were the first modern team to run it in the NFL, and remain by FAR the best.

Watch the game on Sunday, and you will see that it is not a gimmick.

[DolphinFanInPeace]

Wildcat = less than 8 plays a game

If they beat us, it won't because of the Wildcat.

Yeah, we ran it 13 times against the Colts, and with a younger QB in there you may see it more than that. Don't you think Chad Henne will feel a lot more comfortable when he is in the game as the offense is picking up big chunks of yards in the Wildcat? My guess is anywhere from 10-20 times we will see Ronnie Brown taking the snap this Sunday.

[Vampire Baby]

Yeah, we ran it 13 times against the Colts, and with a younger QB in there you may see it more than that. Don't you think Chad Henne will feel a lot more comfortable when he is in the game as the offense is picking up big chunks of yards in the Wildcat? My guess is anywhere from 10-20 times we will see Ronnie Brown taking the snap this Sunday.

We won't see the Wildcat 20 times man. That would be way too predictable. Unless the Bills are forced to punt every time they have the football and we dominate even more so time of possesion wise than in the Colts game. I find that to be a nearly impossible task. I see 10 times or so as more realistic.

[madness]

:banghead:

What happened to understanding simple mathematics?