Two years ago, when Patriots running back Kevin Faulk took a direct snap and handed it to rookie receiver Chad Jackson on an end-around that gained 10 yards, Bill Belichick answered a question about the play after the game.
"Taking a direct snap isn't exactly like splitting an atom," he said in his best I-know-and-you-don't voice.
|
|
| Ronnie Brown's execution of trick plays kept Miami a step ahead of Rodney Harrison and the Pats. (AP) |
"I don't know why we couldn't adjust," said safety Rodney Harrison of Ronnie "Touchdown" Brown's four running TDs, three the result of a direct snap, as the Dolphins stunned the Patriots 38-13 on Sunday. "We had no answers for it."
The Dolphins version is called "Wildcat," a play quarterbacks coach David Lee brought from Arkansas after he'd used it with Darren McFadden. While lined up in the shotgun, Brown took the direct snap as Ricky Williams went left to right in motion and Chad Pennington lined up as a receiver. The Dolphins ran the play six times.
"We hadn't seen it," defensive end Richard Seymour said. "If it had been a heavyweight fight, we got knocked out six times."
What fan doesn't love trick plays?
Fran Tarkenton was famous for them with the Giants, especially the flea-flicker. Nebraska scored against Miami in the 1984 Orange Bowl with the Fumblerooski, which was invented by none other than John Heisman himself. We've seen Tom Brady pass to Randy Moss and Moss pass it back to Brady. Against Cincinnati in the playoffs two years ago, we saw Pittsburgh's Antwaan Randle El take the direct snap, then throw across the field to Ben Roethlisberger, who threw a 43-yard touchdown to Cedrick Wilson.
"I love trick plays when they work," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "When they don't, they're ridiculous."
I was lucky to see both the Music City Miracle and Dan Marino's legendary "Clock Play" in person. On a wild January day in 2000, the Titans took us on that magic carpet ride with a kickoff return that included two laterals -- one the width of the field -- to beat the Bills.
In 1994 at the Meadowlands, with little time left and the Dolphins trailing the Jets, Marino lined up as if he were going to stop the clock with a spike, but instead, he hit Mark Ingram in the corner of the end zone to shock the fans and the league. I'll never forget Boomer Esiason, who'd had a great game, talking about how he stopped to help a woman in the Lincoln Tunnel while fans in their cars were screaming at him about the play.
So why not more of the hook and lateral, fake field goal and reverse flea flicker? Why not an occasional Statue of Liberty?
Because they aren't as easy as they look. In the Dolphins' case, they worked on them intensely all last week in the privacy of their practice bubble. The direct snap required the offensive line to overload to the right side, so the formation was tight end, left guard, center, right guard and right tackle, meaning rookie Jake Long, in only his third game, was moving to the opposite side.
"We had to keep them off balance," said Brown, who called it his best game since pee wee football. "I think this opens it up for our offense."
Direct snaps require a high level of responsibility -- should the running back pass, should he run? How well does he sell play action? The coaches had obvious faith in Brown, who was arguably the best player in the NFL through seven games last year until he got hurt against the Patriots.
And what now? Will we see more spinning of the roulette wheel, more gambling from the Dolphins or anyone else?
As the players ran off the field in Foxborough, offensive tackle Vernon Carey was singing the old Bonnie Raitt song, Let's Give 'em Something to Talk About.
For football fans and coaches everywhere, he got that right.
