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Running back Ronnie Brown threw for a touchdown and ran for three more out of the "Wildcat" attack during the Dolphins' win over New England in Week 3.

To paraphrase Plato, desperation is the mother of reinvention in the NFL.

On the long flight home from a 21-point loss to the Cardinals, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano — 0-2 at the time — started thinking of ways to fix his struggling team. He summoned quarterbacks coach David Lee to the front of the plane, and they cooked up a first-class idea.

“We just chatted a little bit,” Sparano, smiling, would say a week later.

By then, the world knew what they had talked about. In the Dolphins’ stunning upset of the Patriots in Week 3, they employed a variation of the old single-wing offense. They put running back Ronnie Brown in the shotgun, directly snapping him the ball on six plays — and the result was magical and historic.

And it started a trend.

Since then, the direct snap has been popping up in games across the league. This isn’t a new gimmick, but it’s creating more of a buzz than ever before.

Pop Warner, the creator of the single wing, is smiling somewhere.

The Jaguars used it with fullback Montell Owens — and he ran for a 41-yard touchdown on the first carry of his career.

The Falcons used it with Jerious Norwood. The Raiders used it with Darren McFadden, who is familiar with the formation from his days at Arkansas. Which brings us back to Sparano’s sky-high meeting with Lee.

Lee was the Arkansas offensive coordinator last season, and the Razorbacks often put McFadden in the shotgun — the “Wild Hog” formation, they called it. Basically, they eliminated the middle man, the quarterback, and let the elusive McFadden do his thing, either running or passing.

“I don’t know if I’ll get to use it in the NFL, but I’d love to,” McFadden told me last spring in a predraft interview in the Arkansas weight room. “It’s a great feeling — I played a lot of quarterback in high school — and it keeps the defenses honest.”

So Lee suggested the “Wild Hog” to Sparano and, with nothing to lose, they installed the “Wildcat” scheme into their game plan. (I guess “Wild Dolphin” or “Wild Fish” doesn’t sound as catchy.) After a week of intense practices, they sprung it on the Patriots, accomplishing what was thought to be impossible:

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Unprepared and unable to adjust at halftime, the Patriots couldn’t stop Brown, who scored three of his four rushing touchdowns out of the “Wildcat” formation — plays of 2, 5 and 62 yards. He also threw for a 19-yard touchdown, probably frosting Belichick almost as much as a “SpyGate” inquiry. Afterward, the Patriots, one of the most intelligent and well-coached teams, admitted they’d been duped.

Here’s how they did it: Brown lined up in the shotgun, with quarterback Chad Pennington split out as a wide receiver. Fellow running back Ricky Williams went in motion and left tackle Jake Long lined up on the far right in an unbalanced line.

It’s difficult to defend, especially with two talented runners like Brown and Williams. At Arkansas, Lee had McFadden and Felix Jones, currently a rookie with the Cowboys. Opponents must respect each runner, so it creates seams in the defense. When you have a running back handing off to a running back, as Brown did twice with Williams, it causes trepidation and hesitation. If you’re lucky enough to have a back who can throw, it puts additional pressure on the defense.

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No, we’re not going to see a re-emergence of the single wing, last used 60 years ago by the Steelers, but the NFL is a copycat league and that means the direct snap will become a fad. And that’s not a bad thing. Coaches too often become staid and predictable; wrinkles are fun for the fans, not to mention intriguing for fantasy owners.

The “Wildcat,” or whatever you want to call it, never will become a staple package since the league is driven by quarterbacks and teams would become too one-dimensional without the threat of a passing attack. But if a team has a uniquely talented player, why not use him? For instance, the Jets have wide receiver Brad Smith, a former record-setting quarterback at Missouri, and they’ve been known to put him behind center.

If nothing else, it forces teams to prepare for the possibility of the direct snap, which robs them of time that could be used for something else. You can bet Chargers defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell will be preparing this week for the “Wildcat.” On Sunday, they face the Dolphins.

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