cphil006 Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 from this article: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/7944248 Portis serves mainly as spectator in Redskins' latest loss ASHBURN, Va. -- The score is 946 to 945, and Clinton Portis is losing. The Washington Redskins running back, conspicuous by his absence in another feeble effort by the offense, has fallen one yard behind the Denver Broncos' latest running-back-from-nowhere in the unofficial race to shake down the teams' blockbuster offseason trade. Out in the Rockies, Reuben Droughns -- who? -- has come on strong in the tradition of Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson and Portis as the Broncos challenge for a playoff berth. Back east, Portis is getting marginalized in a struggling offense for a team going nowhere. Portis had just six carries for 17 yards when the Redskins (3-8), the lowest-scoring team in the NFL, lost 16-7 to Pittsburgh on Sunday. He was on the bench for long chunks of time, including the entire 13-play drive that resulted in Washington's only touchdown. Backup Ladell Betts gained 34 yards on eight carries, including a 26-yard scamper that marked the team's longest run from scrimmage since opening day. "Certainly we'd love to have Clinton get his full share of carries," coach Joe Gibbs said Monday. "But the last two weeks we've been against very good defenses. "Looking back on it: would you like to run the ball more? Yeah. Did we think we could run the ball down the field against Pittsburgh? No. We certainly want a mix in there, but it's my responsibility to get us more runs in there." This is hardly what the Redskins envisioned when they traded four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey and a second-round draft pick for Portis, who rushed for 1,500 yards his first two NFL seasons. Portis signed an eight-year, $50.5 million contract and set out to prove that he was a top back in his own right and not just another fortunate product of a Broncos system that runs well-designed plays for interchangeable backs behind a well-heeled offensive line. It is difficult to pinpoint where the blame lies. Gibbs relied heavily on Portis through the first half of the season, giving him a workload that was on pace to shatter team records in carries and yards. The Redskins are 3-0 when Portis rushes for 100 yards, 0-8 when he doesn't. But Gibbs' focus on Portis, and the running game in general, has ebbed surprisingly over the past three games. Portis had just 17 carries against both Cincinnati and Philadelphia. On the season, he has 244 carries for 945 yards and a 3.9 average, while Droughns has surged to 202 carries for 946 yards and a 4.7 average. The Redskins have an NFL-low two rushing touchdowns and none in the past seven games. They are on pace to rush for nearly the same number of yards (1,654) as last season's 5-11 team under pass-happy coach Steve Spurrier (1,653). "Clinton, he's got to run the ball," receiver Rod Gardner said. "We've got to have him touch the ball. He's got to put up 100 yards a game. When we can't run the ball, everybody knows what we're going to do." Portis also is a victim of the Redskins' anemic passing game. With no consistent downfield threat, defenses have stalked the line of scrimmage and plugged the holes immediately. No back could play well in those conditions. Betts notably failed to get into the end zone Sunday in two tries from the 1-yard line. "We're struggling in the running game no matter which back is back there," left tackle Chris Samuels said. "Any time you can't complete passes downfield, they're going to stack the box with safeties and extra players. We can account for everybody up front and block those guys, but there's always going to be one or two extra guys." Portis caught some flak from the coaching staff early in the season for implying that Gibbs' offense was too predictable, but he said all the right things when asked about his spotty playing time Sunday. He said it was hard standing on the sidelines, but that he was more upset with losing than not playing. "I'm not in Denver anymore," Portis said. "I'm in Washington, I have to find a way to be a key player in this system, the same way I was there." Portis serves mainly as spectator in Redskins' latest loss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlobberKnockinFootball Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Originally posted by cphil006 "Clinton, he's got to run the ball," receiver Rod Gardner said. "We've got to have him touch the ball. He's got to put up 100 yards a game. When we can't run the ball, everybody knows what we're going to do." [/b] And what is that Rod???? Drop passes??? :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Joe Hog Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 This crappy article doesn't even have a by-line, so I can only say, "Bite me, SportsLine.com!". :moon: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neophyte Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 If Rod hangs on to a couple of those long passes that have hit both his hands the last few weeks, I think everyone would be surprised with how well Clinton suddenly started running. Rod needs to stop talking and start catching. Clinton is not Riggo and can't move the pile for 3 yards by himself like Riggo did. He needs some space and that space is really only available when the other team is worried about giving up the big play. Right now they are not worried about it. Not because they can defend it perfectly but because we can't hit regardless of the defense. Once the passes start connecting, Portis will find running the ball to be a breeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGS_DADDY Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Originally posted by Sonny Joe Hog This crappy article doesn't even have a by-line, so I can only say, "Bite me, SportsLine.com!". :moon: This article was written by noe other than Joseph White, an AP reporter that bashes the skins every chance he gets, I know this because I live in Eagles territory and his articles make it into the local so called paper every week.:puke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Portis is the not the first Big Time RB, taking out of a game because of the need to play catch up, and he won't be the last. It is "much ado about nothing" type article that only gets some creditabilty because the Skins are losing. If the Skins had came back to win, nothing would have been thought about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyZeb Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Has an article been written comparing Bailey and Springs? I'd like to see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cphil006 Posted November 30, 2004 Author Share Posted November 30, 2004 me too. This article that I regretably posted was meant to get us fired up. I hope it has. We play the Giants this coming week, whom we slapped around in week 2, but lost b/c of SEVEN turnovers....let's see if we can make it right... Draft Mike Williams... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nace14 Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 i like how the article says that he isn't matching up to the denver backs and then it says, "No back could play well in those conditions." so basically the article is saying that even up against conditions that no back could play well in, portis only has one less yard than ruben? ok, that makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC_Skins Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Originally posted by nace14 i like how the article says that he isn't matching up to the denver backs and then it says, "No back could play well in those conditions." so basically the article is saying that even up against conditions that no back could play well in, portis only has one less yard than ruben? ok, that makes no sense. Thank you, Portis has made something out of nothing... He is a beast ! :point2sky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cskin Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 If Portis averages just 100 yards in the last five games... he rushes for 1500... the first man in history to do that in the NFL.. average 1500 yards the first three years. Now.. have we been in position to punch it in and get Portis his 10-15 TD's a year? NO... but he's given us 1500 yards hopefully. This offseason I fully expect the OL to be strengthened and the blocking schemes refined. Give Portis some competent blockers up front and the threat of the playaction pass downfield next year... and we'll be grinning from ear to ear about "Clinton coming to Washington". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadKarma Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Gibbs sat Portis this weekend and will continue to spell him for the rest of the year to get Betts and Rock some carries. Why you ask? Portis is our future and was on pace to get 400 carries which would have seriously hurt next years production. Gibbs sees no need to have him out there carrying the ball 30 times when we are already out of the playoff hunt. Better to rest the franchise and not risk injury than to have Cp get some kind of knee injury which he would have to rehab. Portis will be back strong next year behind a healthy O-line. Until then lets get the ROCK back in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCalMike Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Where is the article about how many passing TDs our corners have given up, combined compared to how many Champ Bailey has(on national tv alone, for that matter). Smoot/Springs 1 - Bailey 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nace14 Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Originally posted by NoCalMike Where is the article about how many passing TDs our corners have given up, combined compared to how many Champ Bailey has(on national tv alone, for that matter). Smoot/Springs 1 - Bailey 0 Bailey 0????? i think porter beat him twice this week alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCalMike Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Originally posted by nace14 Bailey 0????? i think porter beat him twice this week alone. No I meant, the score is 1-0 Redskins, like, we win in that category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afkidd Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 he is saying 1 point for smoot/springs, 0 for bailey. it's a positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catfish Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 OK, I can buy into the "underuse due to double-digit leads" a bit, but that does not explain away 6 carries in a game you trail by 1 score in the 4th quarter. It also doesn't explain how you can run 23 plays in the red zone over the last three weeks and have your franchise back carry the ball once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted November 30, 2004 Share Posted November 30, 2004 Yeah, wake me up when someone from CBS or ESPN writes a piece on the fact that our pass defense without Bailey is 5th in the NFL and has 12 INTs, while Denver's pass defense with Bailey is 12th and has 8 INTs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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