Clinton Portis' Workload

Clinton Portis has 325 carries through 16 games, thats the most in the NFL.

Portis has been very inconsistent this season. Most of the year, he struggled to find running lanes, averaging under 4 yards a carry. Recently, however, Portis has been playing great, as he does every December.

There is little doubt that putting the ball in the hands of a healthy Portis gives us our best chance to win in the playoffs on a weekly basis.

However, if we play more than one playoff game, it appears that Portis will carry the ball in excess of 300 times. No back not named Eric Dickerson has ever carried the ball more than 370 times and bounced back to have another good season the following season. The last time Portis broke the 340 threshold, he couldn't even make it through the first preseason drive without getting injured.

Think about Shaun Alexander's '06, and Larry Johnson's 07.

The question is, should we ride Clinton Portis in the playoffs, knowing full well that if we do, chances are that he will have an injury-riddled '08 campaign? Is it worth it?

Obviously if we went to the super bowl, it would be worth it. But what if we beat the Seahawks and lose to the Cowboys, and Portis carries 50 times between the two games. Have we made a mistake?

Can we possibly hope to win on the arm of our quarterback as opposed to the legs of our running back?

Cant coach scared. What do you think would be said about Gibbs if he didn't use Portis the way we need to to win? He would be critcized to no end.

In the playoffs, there is no tommorrow if you don't win. Without Portis, we don't win. Plain and simple.

i really like the way the skins are using Portis right now. he is getting his carries, but the skins are not just ramming him up the gut, play after play. i believe the way Portis is running right now, you have to run him, and run him some more. he really is getting better the longer the season goes on. the skins have the hottest quarterback, and hottest running back heading into the playoffs. is there one team in the NFC that the skins cant beat? right now the other teams are more worried about us, then we are about them. lets ride him

I guess we'd better shut him down now. It's not worth taking a shot at winning the whole thing.

80% of the damage is already done assuming we play 4 more. This is the playoffs. Ride his ass till you have to shoot him down. In no way should we consider next season's injuries during the playoffs. He will have time to recover. We have a shot this year.

Even if we have no shot at all; he will only be playing 2 games then it isn't a big deal. If we do have a shot he will play 4 and it is worth it because we have a shot.

It's playoff time. Give him the ball and spell him only when he's really tired. End of discussion.

I guess we'd better shut him down now. It's not worth taking a shot at winning the whole thing.

Santana Moss got a little leg ding in the Cowboy game, too. Better shut him down for the preseason too. Gibbs looked a little tired. Maybe he should turn the reins over to GW for the remainder of the playoffs.

Portis does have a ton of carries this season, but the odd thing is these last few weeks, he looks the healthiest he has all season. He may be shortening his career by taking such a pounding, but I don't think that now is the time to limit his touches, and I honestly don't think Portis would want it any other way either.

The last time Portis broke the 340 threshold, he couldn't even make it through the first preseason drive without getting injured.

Those two incidents needn't be related at all. It was a freak accident (landing awkwardly after tackling the Bengal that intercepted Brunell) that got him injured in the preseason.

All the players in general, and Portis and Moss in particular, are playing such inspired football right now that I don't think you can sit them, even if you tried. After Sellers had his concussion, the team hid his helmet in the locker room to keep him from re-entering. There isn't a player out there now that isn't bringing that attitude.