For much of the offseason, plenty of NFL analysts and opponents have wondered aloud whether the Dolphins' popular Wildcat offense would remain effective now that the element of surprise has been eliminated.

Well, coach Tony Sparano sent the league a warning shot Saturday night during a 27-17 win against the Carolina Panthers: Surprise! It still works.

Taking the mentality that he'll run it until you stop it, Sparano decided he was willing to show off the Wildcat during only the second preseason game. He didn't just give it a test run, either. He pulled out the real deal.

``We ran the same four plays every team in the league [has seen],'' Sparano said. ``There are really no secrets. But it's good homework for us. We get a chance to see what teams have been studying their whole offseason, how they want to defend it.''

Apparently, Carolina didn't study it much.

Early in the second quarter, with the starters in the game, running back Ronnie Brown lined up in the Wildcat, handed the ball to Ricky Williams on an end-around, who then flipped the ball to quarterback Chad Pennington, who hurled a pass to a wide-open Patrick Cobbs.

The identical play resulted in an 80-yard touchdown against the Texans last year. This time, it was good for 35 yards -- but only because Cobbs had to slow up slightly more. Hey, not bad for the preseason.

``After a couple of plays, we had a pretty good idea that play had a shot,'' Sparano said. ``It worked.''

On the team's two previous Wildcat attempts, both were enough for first downs. First, Brown handed the ball off to Williams, who went 11 yards around the right end. Two plays later, Brown again took the snap and ran up the middle for four yards.

The Dolphins first pulled out the package late in the first quarter during the second offensive series of the game. The initial two attempts weren't as lucrative as the others, but the running game in general during the first quarter was very solid.

Brown looked powerful and quick, gaining 28 yards on his five carries during the opening quarter.

Ricky Williams also added a six-yard run, proving the offensive line in general was also much improved from last week's opener.

``I thought we did a nice job up front, and we made some nice runs in the first half of the ball game,'' Sparano said. ``We moved the ball really good on the ground.''

BROWN DOES IT ALL

Brown also fared well when the ball was in the air. Thanks to a blown coverage by the Panthers -- and a nice block by tight end Anthony Fasano -- Brown wound up wide open on a passing route during Miami's first offensive series.

Pennington threw a smooth pass to Brown, who stopped short as soon as he caught the ball to cause safety Chris Harris to fly past him, leaving Brown an open field to jog into the end zone for a 28-yard score. The running back added three catches for 43 yards to his rushing totals.

TACKLING NEEDS WORKS

The team could use some improvement when finishing tackles, although that's something more likely to come as the result of increased repetitions during preseason games rather than during practices.

Carolina scored on a 25-yard touchdown run by DeAngelo Williams, during which Williams was touched by four Dolphins defenders, including Jason Ferguson, Akin Ayodele, Gibril Wilson and slight contact by Kendall Langford.

Still, the Dolphins' starters on both sides of the ball had a more manicured performance than their preseason opener against the Jaguars. Pennington looked notably precise, completing 8 of 11 passes for 105 yards during his three possessions. He would have had one more completion if it wasn't for a drop by wide receiver Davone Bess. Backup quarterback Chad Henne played the final two quarters of game, completing 10 of 16 passes with 75 yards and a touchdown pass. None of the quarterbacks, including Pat White (2 of 3, 4 yards), threw any interceptions.

The Dolphins will continue their preseason action Thursday when they travel to Tampa to play the Bucs for their first game on the road.