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Why does Portis always seem to fall?


NawidMS

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Is it just me or does it seem as if Portis always seem to fall or trip everytime he gets past the line of scrimage. Ive noticed that every time it looks as if he's gonna break one loose, he seems to fall or just stumble to the ground. Your thoughts please.

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He does often look as though he's leaning forward, beyond the capabilities of his own balance in anticipation of the resistence of the D line, or the back of his O-line, or SOMETHING. When he does hit a hole that's wide open, it almost looks as if his legs can't catch up with the lean of his upper body. Kinda strange looking, but understandable if you've ever played RB.

The more consistently those holes open up, the less you'll see Clinton "expect" to have to do that to gain positive yardage and the more often you'll see him hit the hole expecting to be running in space.

Having said that, he's an awesome running back, and in no way is this meant to sound critical. I have no doubts about his skills. Just making an observation.

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Portis runs low to the ground, with varying degress of effectiveness. This helps him hit holes harder and makes him hard to tackle, but it also leaves him off balance which causes him to slip.

I notice he often goes down before taking a big hit, unless he really needs the yards to convert a third down or score. I think he does this on purpose to stay fresh in the game (a little guy like him can only take so many big hits). Using his agility in this way makes him more effective in the 4th quarter and could also prolong his career.

This is fine by me so long as he stays up and fights when the situation calls for it, which I think he does.

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Is it just me or does it seem as if Portis always seem to fall or trip everytime he gets past the line of scrimage. Ive noticed that every time it looks as if he's gonna break one loose, he seems to fall or just stumble to the ground. Your thoughts please.

I've noticed the same thing. He doesn't seem to slip when he makes a cut, but he falls a lot on his face after passing the line of scrimmage, and usually just before he's about to bust a long one. My guess is that he runs with his feet too close to the ground. If you remember the style of runner that Roger Craig was in the 49ers in the 80's and early 90's, he was a high stepper, seemingly running with his knees up constantly. Well, clinton is the opposite it seems to me. I was even wondering if he was running slightly up hill. Maybe the field is elevated for drainage just enough that it trips Clinton up?

Maybe he should run through more of the tire drills in practice, or get with Jerry Rice for training up those steep hills. :laugh:

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I notice he often goes down before taking a big hit, unless he really needs the yards to convert a third down or score. I think he does this on purpose to stay fresh in the game (a little guy like him can only take so many big hits).

Yeah thats the only time i see him falling to the ground. Just trying to dive forward and pick up a little more and not get hit...smart move mr. cp!:gaintsuck

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It's nice to lean forward and pick up a few extra yards, but Portis runs best when he's upright and using his vision to find a lane and making cut backs. It's to his own detriment that he's leaning forward on every run. I think it's something Byner has been coaching because Ladell suffers from it too sometimes.

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It is because he runs so low to the ground.

Exactly. When you run correctly (which he does) you create a low center of gravity and you make yourself a small yet powerful target.

hitting a guy running that low to the ground will put a hurtin' on your ass. You may get the tackle but you're not gonna like it...

:gaintsuck

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Portis averaged over 5.0 yards a carry again yesterday and scored 3 touchdowns. Give the man a break :laugh:

His yardage totals have gone down because he has gotten fewer carries, but if you notice his per carry average is a lot higher.

Those extra touches are now Brunell passes to Cooley, Moss and the other receivers.

There is no way Portis was going to play 8 or 9 years in the NFL at a productive level if the Redskins continued to give him the ball the way they did to the 6'2 and 240 pound John Riggins :)

There will be games in November and December when Portis WILL get his 30-35 carries when the team needs it, but Gibbs is doing the smart thing by limiting his carries early in the season so he is still around for the stretch run.

Plus you can look at the running back position yesterday and see not only 101 yards for Portis but 92 for Betts and a touchdown for Rock Cartwright.

If Portis had stayed in the game (which would have been stupid of Gibbs given the score) he could easily have finished with 175 yards and perhaps another 1-2 touchdowns.

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he had a run yesterday (can't remember when in the game it was) where i thought he was gonna take it to the house or at least get a really big gain but he just unexplicably fell forward on his face. i mean, he already had a first down but i think he could have gotten more

I saw it too. It was one of his last carries. He picked up 15+ yards and fell forward. He really had a chance to potentially take it all the way. He fell and then slammed the ground with the ball in disgust. Don't think he was touched.

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Would you please tell the mods what they can do to make the search function easier to use?

Thank you.

I don't know what possibly could be easier than what exists now.

one of the problems is when someone isn't familiar with the board and they don't know what has been discussed and thus they truly believe they're bringing a new topic to light.

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