Portis v. Betts: The Grass is Always Greener

Portis is a good running back, I just think is style doesn't fit totally what the redskins needs. Which is a power back, that is why Betts idea type of running back. Betts always surges forward when running, even when theres nothing there. Portis runs side to side when he's in trouble. Don't get me wrong Portis is excellent when we call him to run towards the side but when it comes to the gut or between the tackles his success is very low.

I cannot believe that people accuse Portis of going down easily, not being physical, etc. And for those of you who do rail against Portis' durability, do you think Betts' is any better?

No one else has seen portis play half speed???? not just this season, but last season and the season before that, in exception to his first game against tampa. Has no one really seen this??? wow, maybe its not portis's fault....then you raise the question... why do we have him if the coaches run a certain style and we have this style runner? im stunned by alot of you backing portis... 8 year 50 mil running back??? and even this question to come up means he is not worth it period.

No, it was to point out: (a) how fickle many fans are; (b) that Betts is NOT more durable than Portis; (c) that Portis has been very productive in D.C.; and (d) to quiet the fans in D.C. that always want to bench the starter and start the guy riding the bench.

Portis was never a great tackle breaker, but this season he has shown zero ability to make any sort of a play.

I look to a play in the first quarter of yesterday's game as my example. It was a draw play where Portis cut back and Vrabel "legally" horsecollared him to the ground. That play had a ton of open space, some great design, and pretty decent blocking. Vrabel was totally out of position, and all he was able to do was get about three fingers inside Portis' shoulder pads.

Portis has to run through that. If he has to take Vrabel's arm with him, so be it. But you absouletly can not get taken down like that if you are an NFL running back. That play has become far too common this year.

I love the intensity the guy plays with but if he's not going to help us in the running game, we might as well put in someone who can.

One of the biggest myths in Redskins history is that Betts is a power back.

I cannot believe that people accuse Portis of going down easily, not being physical, etc. And for those of you who do rail against Portis' durability, do you think Betts' is any better?

The answer is that for what each is being paid, we're basically getting roughly equal contribution from both of those guys. Look, I don't see how anybody can look at CP's numbers and think he is not losing it. It's right there, staring you in the face.

The only way Portis can achieve the kinds of yardage we expect is to run him into the ground, which is what we did when he got here. And that approach doesn't come without a price. We're all getting to witness that right now.

Another Poll

TRASH or LLOYD

Make your pick. The odds of completing a pass downfield to thrash with asante samuel on him is lowe than the odds of us winning that game, agreed?

I'm not sure it even matters at this point who is in there. There simply aren't many holes to hit.

Pretty much says it all. I'm not sure Ladainian Tomlison would find much running room behind this patchwork offensive line.

Sorry, but this whole debate seems kind of pointless. At this point we're not evaluating the RB on his individual merits because the line is completely debilitated. With a very, very few exceptions a RB is probably only going to be as good as his offensive line. Same goes for about 99% of QBs.

Pretty much says it all. I'm not sure Ladainian Tomlison would find much running room behind this patchwork offensive line.

He wouldn't be putting up the same numbers he is now, but there's still been no good explanation for why Portis' effectiveness seems to have decreased every year since he got here, other than the one I proposed.

I mean, you guys can say "Portis is the best back we have" all day long, but it still won't change the fact that he's losing his effectiveness every week and hasn't looked like the guy we traded for in almost 2 years.

The bigger question is can he turn it around. In my view, I don't think so. We squandered his golden years and ran him into the ground.