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Why is Ladell our short yardage back?


gutlead74

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I still don't understand why we dont have Mike Sellers line up at running back on short yardage situations....Ladell Betts is not the answer in these situations because in the past couple of years he has consistently been denied. Plus this change will give portis some resting time....We have a brandon jacobs on our team and we must use him:point2sky

I feel like I hate Sellers because I almost always respond to these kinds of threads/posts. I'll put it simply, Sellers is nowhere near as effective a ball carrier in ANY aspect than Betts. While Sellers is a lot bigger and probably a lot stronger, he's incredibly slow. He's unable to move the pile and if the OLine makes a hole (which is rare in the redzone), Sellers certainly can't fit through them.

Thus, the comparison to Jacobs is even worse. I agree that Betts is not the redzone or short yardage answer. Portis, as far as I'm concerned, is the only running back we have that can pound it through the middle and actually get positive yards.

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If Portis isn't in I'd rather just throw the ball in. Why don't we run more play action on 1st or 2nd and goal? With guys like Kelly, Cooley, and possibly Davis and Mitchell we should have the size to be able to punch it in through the air, especially against rock solid Ds like the Steelers.

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I've thought about this idea when it's come up on ES board before. Unfortunately Mike Sellers missed the block that kept Betts out of the end zone on third down last night. It's unusual for him to do so, but it happened. If he's the ballcarrier maybe he gets in, but maybe he doesn't get close because we haven't got an equally good lead blocker replacement. :confused:

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I've thought about this idea when it's come up on ES board before. Unfortunately Mike Sellers missed the block that kept Betts out of the end zone on third down last night. It's unusual for him to do so, but it happened. If he's the ballcarrier maybe he gets in, but maybe he doesn't get close because we haven't got an equally good lead blocker replacement. :confused:

I don't think Sellers missed the block, Betts missed the hole. Sellers blocked his out out and Betts should have cut in behind him. He essentially made Sellers look bad on that play. If you watch it again, look at Sellers after the play, signaling Betts should have cut up. The play was there.

With that said, I do not like Sellers as a ball carrier in short yardage. He's not a strong enough runner imo...

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There are some backs that have a nose for the endzone. Tomlinson, Peterson, and Portis are among them. Give him the carries down there. The only time I ever remember him missing an opportunity on the goal line was the home game against Dallas in '06. We got a safety from the defense our next play.

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We don't have a great short yardage back other than Portis. And unfortunately they have already declared Betts to be our 3rd down back and possibly that means short yardage as well. I can only hope they'd be smart enough to use Portis where he is a beast. I think we'll be fine.

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If Portis isn't in I'd rather just throw the ball in. Why don't we run more play action on 1st or 2nd and goal? With guys like Kelly, Cooley, and possibly Davis and Mitchell we should have the size to be able to punch it in through the air, especially against rock solid Ds like the Steelers.

Yep - The Fade is the new Run.

I think Zorn tries at least one each time were in the redzone after seeing betts get stood up.

I think the deep passes even though incomplete opened up some running lanes then when we got close they would have totally sold out on the run if we play faked. Wasted 4 points IMO.

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I believe Portis is probably the best down there.

But we need better coaching there too. We seem to get tense.

Everyone on earth knew we were running left. I mean, come on.

That puts any RB at a huge disadvantage.

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I believe Portis is probably the best down there.

But we need better coaching there too. We seem to get tense.

Everyone on earth knew we were running left. I mean, come on.

That puts any RB at a huge disadvantage.

This is true too. Which is why I marvel at Portis' ability to STILL be able to punch it in. Not always but if he has two chances, I'm betting he gets it in on one of them.

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This is true too. Which is why I marvel at Portis' ability to STILL be able to punch it in. Not always but if he has two chances, I'm betting he gets it in on one of them.

Agreed. But it is frustrating when you see other teams do play action down there, and throw to a wide open TE for a touchdown.

Or even a QB bootleg.

I mean what the hell is going on with that play-calling down there? It is awful.

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As much as I like Sellers, he's not explosive enough to be a short-yardage back for us. He's strong, but it takes him too long to build enough momentum to be effective in that role. He'd be much better catching the ball in the flat and running people over.

We need a guy who can hit the hole hard by the time he gets to the LOS.

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Don't make the mistake in assuming that Sellers must be a great short yardage back because he's huge. He's not a good runner. He's a threat when he has momentum, but he doesn't hit the line with intensity and he will not push the pocket.

Short yardage must be Portis, no one else.

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