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Dolphins hope to continue turnaround vs. woeful Raiders

Nov 11, 2008 - 3:26 PM Oakland (2-7) at Miami (5-4), 1:00 pm EST

MIAMI (Ticker) -- The "wildcat" formation has taken the league by storm, and no one has run it better than the surprising Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins look to continue their stunning turnaround and record a fourth straight win on Sunday when they host the woeful Oakland Raiders.

The Dolphins went deep into their bag of tricks to pull out a 21-19 win over Seattle last weekend.

Ricky Williams ran for 105 yards - including a 51-yard TD from the "Wildcat" - and Ted Ginn Jr. caught a flea-flicker for a 39-yard score.

The Dolphins took a 14-0 lead in the first when Brown took the direct snap and handed the ball off to Williams - play they had not run out of the formation before.

"We would practice that play the last couple weeks," said Williams, who recorded his first 100-yard game since January 1, 2006, against New England. "We ran it for the first time and I think they were a little surprised by it."

Perhaps more surprising than the success of the "wildcat" is that Miami is in the playoff picture. The Dolphins went 1-15 last season, narrowly avoiding a winless campaign by beating Baltimore in Week 14.

Miami, which hasn't won four straight since November 5-23, 2006, is just one game behind New England (6-3) and the New York Jets (6-3) in the AFC East.

"I think we are building confidence in ourselves and the ability to win," said Chad Pennington, who has a 95.2 quarterback rating and is a big reason for the huge 180.

The Dolphins must now avoid a trap game against the Raiders, who have lost three straight. However, Oakland played well defensively in a 17-6 loss to Carolina, which should give Miami some reason for pause.

Dolphins first-year coach Tony Sparano said he will not let them overlook the Raiders.

"The team coming in right now, all I know is my history against this is team is that they're big, they're physical and they're fast," Sparano said.

"They play a lot like the team from Baltimore plays on defense and we didn't do so good then. The message will be very clear to them. We didn't do a lot of good things (Sunday), there's enough things in this film right now."

The Raiders bounced back from their worst offensive showing in 41 years by outgaining the Panthers, 259-219, but could only manage a pair of second-half field goals by Sebastian Janikowski.

Oakland was forced to start Andrew Walter in place of JaMarcus Russell, who has been bothered by tendinitis in his right knee.

"It felt good to play again but obviously the game didn't turn out the way we wanted," said Walter, who completed just 14-of-32 passes for 143 yards with a pair of interceptions.