SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It fooled the Texans, overwhelmed the Seahawks and thoroughly embarrassed the Patriots earlier this season. Now the 49ers get a crack at solving the Dolphins' notorious Wildcat formation, one that is dumbfounding in its simplicity yet surprisingly difficult to stop.

On a run-of-the-mill running play, the ball is snapped to the quarterback who then hands it to the running back. The Dolphins, however, have had success in splitting quarterback Chad Pennington wide as if he's a receiver and then snapping the ball directly to the tailback, who usually takes off and runs.

The formation has yielded three plays this season of 50 yards or more, all of them touchdowns.

The problem for defenses, 49ers coach Mike Singletary pointed out Wednesday, is that the Dolphins have two running backs capable of creating big plays. While Ronnie Brown typically takes the direct snap in Miami's Wildcat formation, he also has the option of handing off to Ricky Williams, who is lined up beside him.

"For a team that's not disciplined, for a team that's not sound, it could cause a lot of problems because you just don't know who has the ball," Singletary said.

Direct snaps to the running back have been around for more than 100 years. The most recent incarnation in the NFL arrived via the University of Arkansas, where Miami quarterbacks coach David Lee was the offensive coordinator in 2007.

The Razorbacks' issue that season was they had two excellent running backs in Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. The Wildcat not only allowed them both to be on the field at the same time, but sometimes to touch the ball on the same play.

When Lee arrived in Miami, he and coach Tony Sparano realized the Dolphins had a similar dynamic with Brown and Williams.

Sparano called his tailbacks' decision-making ability crucial to the success of the formation.

"Whenever you're going to take the quarterback out of the home position and put someone else behind center to handle the football, they'd better be good decision makers and know what they're doing," Sparano said during a conference call.

For the Dolphins, the Wildcat is not merely a gimmick formation. Of the 798 plays Miami has run this season, 76 have been out of the Wildcat, which they first unveiled in a 38-17 win at New England on Sept. 21. While the vast majority of the plays have been runs, there also have been two passes. Both one by Brown and another by Pennington off a flea flicker have gone for touchdowns, another element of the formation that keeps defenses anxious and guessing.

"You don't see it week in and week out," said 49ers linebacker Takeo Spikes when asked why the Wildcat has been so effective.

"Now you start to see it (more)," Spikes said. "But to me, the Dolphins are sort of the ones who have brought it out of the closet. They're going to be the ones who have more things more passes more running plays out of the offense."

Opponents also tend to see the Wildcat more when it is successful early in the game. The Patriots discovered that in their first meeting with the Dolphins in Week 3. Miami ran six plays out of the Wildcat that day and scored four touchdowns out of the formation.

"If you stop it, there's a good chance you won't see it that much," Singletary said. "If you don't stop it I tell you what, it gets bigger and bigger. They find more and more creative ways to use it."