Running Game

The cold, hard truth is this is not a good running team anymore. I mean, we don't have the horses up front, Portis isn't quite what he used to be, Betts isn't anything to write home about, and the scheme simply has not set the run up very well.

Dead on!
I think the blocking is OK, but Portis has lost a step people.

For the record, I think the biggest single difference is that Portis is not the explosive player he once was.

There are other minor differences (Cooley was a better blocker last year, for example), but we need an explosive runner to get in behind this line and make it work.

Portis offers a lot of value to a pass-first team with his disciplined running style and effort he puts in on pass blocking. And he'll probably be the starting running back in 2010 as well. But it's time to find the next great Redskins' back. And no, Mason and Alridge don't count.

And I'm getting quoted for things I didn't write. Just so everyone knows, I'm not some loon arguing with himself here.
is there another style of loon you would prefer to be?

A vet like yourself is coming with a weak thread like this?

C'mon saden you're slackin'.

It's because he's a lazy good for nothin liberal :D

we have definitely abandoned the running game, and the o line is terrible at run blocking, but i also feel that portis is losing a step.

I also believe this is true, however, I feel that the team and some of the fans still believe Portis is still that playmaker he was a couple of years ago. I know part of it is the line, but part of it is CP.

[quote=djnemo65;598818]

If you can't run the ball you don't win. I refuse to believe we can't run the ball all of a sudden. We're the same god damn team we were last year. We can run the ball, the problem is when you call running plays. Zorn is shit. Watching this game makes me sick.

Zero rushing yards at halftime? Against the Lions?

Okay say let's see. Jansen gone. Kendall gone. Thomas hurt. Then we wonder why our O-line isn't doing squat. They were old but experieinced. Our O-line is horrible. Lets be honest. Just the offseason experiments alone should tell you that. I can recall Buges saying Rinehart was horrible. But then he cahnged his tune to say he is doing better.

You can't win with a patchwork inexperienced O-line in the NFL. I never. I mean never remembered a time where we could run the ball. When CP got holes he made big games. So I dont think its him. Liek I said in a post the other day. Get up run into a wall. Then open a door and see which one is easier. lol

Say CP is the problem. If Betts plays he wont produce. Rock? Let's not go there. Mason and Alridge is what's left. SO CP is our best option. If anyoen thinks Betts can produce than they are dillusional. Just liek the peopel who want Todd Collins to start. Do you see the comparisons between the two.

Both had decent seasons when they came in to fill in years ago. But they both are past their prime with no upside. This system isn't really built for either one of them. Betts or Collins. What a mess!! now that I think abotu it. I am about to get on teh Cerrato must go band wagon as I am typing this.

I still haven't figured out how responsible a running back is for the actual success of a running game in relation to the quality of the O-Line. I know that there are O-Line's that can make any running back look good (Chiefs line during the Holmes/LJ era) and then there are Running Backs that make their O-Lines look better then they are (a la the Lions with Kevin Smith this past Sunday).

However with that said I don't think Portis is the type that can go above and beyond the call of duty. Then again it takes longer for O-Lines to gel and usually most running games don't hit their peek until the end of the year. So with that said there's still time but I wouldn't say it's exactly promising.

However with that said I don't think Portis is the type that can go above and beyond the call of duty. .

I think he has and that is the problem. Since he has been here he has been a workhorse. We have ran him into the ground. That being said I think he still has some left in the tank. Anytime he can tie Landry in a race he must still has some speed. Endurance I don't know about that. But the O-line is garbage. Plain and simple. When they start playing better you will see. Not too many RBs can run without a O-line besides Barry Sanders.

Anyone who has watched the games this season , how can you blame Portis for our struggles in the running game. He has no space when he gets the ball. Our O-line most of the time are on the ground or pushed in the back field. We better try spreading teams out which may give him more space to beat 1 defender. Portis may have lost a step but he will run for tough yards if he has some holes. It is clearly the O-Line has struggle to run block. Example 4th 1 back to back games and can't get any push.

So which is? Portis and the backs, Oline and there issues, or Zorn,Buges, and coaching staff? Id say the most likely the Oline. The right side is garbage trying to run the ball. But I would also say we mos def need someone new back there running the ball. Portis and Betts are similar runners, we need somebody who is quicker out of the backfield. Im in favor of giving Mason, Aldridge more carries to see what we have, and if we can improve and I completely support a using one of the first pics on someone new (the other on a lineman of course).