With the success of the Wildcat offense in 2008, particularly in Miami, it’s a safe bet to assume that more and more teams will add it to their file of formations this season (the NFL is a copy-cat league, remember). With LenDale White and Chris Johnson as running backs, and a versatile backup QB like Vince Young, Tennessee seems like the perfect situation for an unleashing of the ‘cat. If they try it tonight, though, Pittsburgh will be ready: all this week the Steelers have been practicing and preparing to see the Wildcat from Tennessee, with the role of Young most likely played by third-string quarterback Dennis Dixon. A second-year player from Oregon, Dixon rushed for over 580 yards and 3 TDs in his final year as a Duck, and ran the Wildcat for Pittsburgh’s scout team last season.
Steelers Will be Ready for WIldcat Formation
Titans coach Jeff Fisher, of course, is in full deny and deflect mode already (remember: NFL).
[A]s Fisher pointed out, the Wildcat is usually successful when it catches opposing defenses off-guard by using a player who’s normally on the field and lining him up at quarterback — as the Dolphins have done with starting running back Ronnie Brown.“When you sub from the sideline and put your Wildcat personnel in the game, it gives the defense the opportunity to adjust,” Fisher said during a conference call earlier this week. “It’s the element of surprise that makes the Wildcat significant.”
Is Fisher telling the truth? Or just being coy? Or is he playing Vizzini-like mind games? We’ll find out tonight.
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