I don't believe that there is just ONE "blueprint" for stopping any offense. A lot depends on your personnel, where the game is being played, weather conditions, current injuries, etc. Though I'm sure the Pats will go to school on what NO did, but they will also go to school on what the Jets did, or even the teams that fared poorly did. Sometimes you learn as much knowing what fails, as what is effective.
I think people forget that this isn't a gimmick offense, any more than a spread formation is a gimmick or the wishbone option was a gimmick. It is simply a formation that goes back to the roots of the NFL using single wing concepts, and deception in the backfield, and adding an extra blocker at the point of attack. It works because we haven't seen any real deception and ball handling in the the pro backfield since the mid 70's and the advent of the I formation.
It wasn't until the late 40's and early fifties, that T formation with the QB under center became fashionable (and that's even before MY time ), though when I first started coaching there was still one HS team in MA (N Quincy) who ran a single wing offense. It presented tons of problems until you deciphered the areas the offense was trying to attack.
It can be very confusing if you are trying to find the ball by looking into the backfield. There is just too much going on. There are 2 things you have to do to stop a single wing offense. First you have to determine WHERE along the line the offense wants to attack, ie off tackle, outside, inside. Second you CANNOT look into the backfield for keys. If you do that then you are dead. Before you finally figure out where the ball is going a blocker will be on you.
In the "wildcat" you have to let the linemen or blocking back take you to the play. You have to literally ignore whats going on in the backfield (a lot of misdirection) and key the oL. That's why preparation is so critical. Often if you break it down enough, you can find the key lineman. The guy who takes you to the point of attack.
One of the things they rarely point out is when Miami does its Wildcat is how often they are using an unbalanced line, in an effort to simply outman the D at the point of attack. Kind of like when Ryan overloads one side on a blitz...only in reverse. When a team is unbalanced, there will be a blocker who will take you to the play. he maybe on the line or in the backfield, but he will be there, you just have to break it down.
Quite frankly I think teams will eventually stop the running attack from the wildcat...UNLESS Miami starts showing that it can effectively pass the ball. That is coming, I'm sure. The Jets MIGHT see some of it on sunday, but I KNOW the Pats will see it the next week, I think that somewhere down the line Pat White will start to factor into the Wildcat.
As to how to stop it, I think its kind of difficult to try to offer an opinion without closely examining what formations they run off it. the motions, the blocking schemes, etc I think the Pats response will involve having 3 safeties on the field. Back when I would face the single wing as a VERY young DC, I would find my formation key, and slant, or shift my DL to that key. Of course its was more complicated than just that, but this isn't a proper format to go into more detail.
