The Miami Dolphins could not have gone into the bye week in any better fashion than they will be this season. Fresh off their 38-13 victory in Foxboro against the New England Patriots, the Dolphins have the fortune of a bye week to savor their victory a little longer. More importantly, the Dolphins have an extra week to rest and an extra week to scheme for week 5 opponent San Diego.

The key to the Dolphins victory last Sunday was trickeration, they used the old single wing to misdirect the Patriots defense and it worked to perfection. The Dolphins employed the single wing several times with Ronnie Brown in the shotgun, Chad Pennington and Ricky Williams lined up as WRs. Every time Brown took the snap, faked the handoff to an in motion Williams, and then kept the ball himself. He scored 2 rushing TDs and threw 1 TD to TE Anthony Fasano.

Lacking a potent passing game, or even one go to WR, the Dolphins will be best served using a little trickeration each week to try and confuse the opposing D. Coach Sparano and his staff should be careful about relying too heavily upon trick plays and gimmicks though. The Dolphins went to the well one too many times against the Patriots, but they were lucky the Patriots D didn’t catch on even though Brown kept the ball every time. The San Diego D for sure will not be fooled more than once. NFL teams watch a lot of film and will catch on quick.

Trick plays and gimmicks are going to have to be a part of the Dolphins game plan to help them get some points and keep their offense on the field. Success with these plays will give the Dolphins confidence, and give them time to experience success while the offense gets itself on track. But this is the NFL, not high school or NCAA football and defenses will catch on quick to the trick plays, so lets make sure we focus just as much energy in the bye week and in subsequent practices at making the regular offense run smoothly too.