Just some Food for Thought!

Well other than the one 60+ yard TD he rushed for in the season opener, Portis had been horrible. Now that the running game should open up a bit, I hope the passing game will open up too. I think JG will definitely work on the O during the break and we should see a more wide open offense during the remainder of the season.


GO SKINS!!!!

Welcome Dragon!

I disagree on one point! Portis' TY, and YPC are about right for a 1,200-1,400 yd. year! It's not his fault we have abandoned the run too early! And have a noodle-armed QB that can't pull out a win with his arm!
So, Portis has not been horrible! Better than average is a better description!

I hope the passsing game opens up too, but please refer to HOF Coach Gibbs, by his respected title, or call him Coach Gibbs, but not just JG! Thank You! No other active NFL Coach has that before his name!

Yes, I think HOF Coach Gibbs has already done some adjustments on the game, and yes, we might be seeing more of the same as yesterday!

It can be said that some posters here had expectations way too high! I said 8-8, and I'm on track! But of course, I would settle for way better than 8-8!

I don't mind typing either! The difficult part is reading some of the spelling in threads!

backrow-you are right..Portis has not been horrible..but saying he is better than average is kindof overstating the facts..he has averaged less than 3.5 ypc and that is including the 60+ yard TD run. And I wasn't meaning any disrespect to HOF Coach Gibbs either by calling him JG. It was just a shorter way of typing. But anyways, I wasn't saying that his previous performance was all his fault. His success is dependant on the O line and directly relates to him. But what do you call the 2 fumbles in one game he had earlier this year? I guess that is better than average considering both fumbles were beyond the line of scrimmage. I would rather have seen those fumbles occur during the preseason then in the regular. And this post was not to blame Portis in anyway. It was to point out that I think he is ready to step up now that his preseason his over.

portis has been a victim of not-so-great play calling and bad blocking... hopefully the GB game looks like the bears game (for portis, not brunell)...

i'd definately say portis has been above average and could change to great very soon ;)

We had some discussions about this last week. I said to expect some pitchouts this week, and sure enough, there were several of them. And they worked.

There have been TWO problems with Portis' running up until now:

1. Almost 100% of his runs were straight into the line. NO PITCHOUTS.

2. He has been told over and over in practice to WAIT for the blockers, don't take off another direction when the hole has not shown up. The hole has not been showing up.

What was different this week is that they used the pitchouts so he can use his talents, AND when he ran into the line, several times, he made a cut when the hole did not show up, and made good yards. These two CHANGES accounted for almost all of his good runs.

I think Portis is well on his way to turning his season around. He definitely benefited from the outside pitches and lead blocking from the h-back/fullback, but he also seemed more comfortable and decisive.

The schemes also helped. From what I've read the Bears were pretty confused by all the looks they were seeing, and Portis was running more with spread formations rather than the line being overcrowded with blockers.

He looked alot like the Portis we thought we were getting, yesterday was a much needed boost to his confidence.

from the post:

"Sellers also acted routinely as a fullback for Portis for the first time, helping to spring him on two key inside runs.


Gibbs called many more pitch plays than usual, which are geared to get Portis outside, and Bugel installed blocking schemes that called for lower blocks at the line, or cut blocks, designed for cutback runs like those employed by the Broncos when Portis ran for them. All of it culminated in Portis compiling the most yards rushing by any Redskins runner since 1999, when Stephen Davis ran for 183."

almost word for word as was drawn up in the gameplan thread, Gibbs finally ADJUSTED to his personnel. the week before vs. the Ravens, Gibbs had Cooley as a fullback who is catching TE with some blocking skills, but this game they put in big Mike Sellers (how often did we see him before this game?) and even though we were completely telegraphing the play, their defense and their big stud Urlacher couldn't stop it (unless by the facemask).

im so glad Gibbs finally adjusted to his personnel, as awesome as Portis is, he cannot be expected to shake off that first hit from a lineman, nor juke him from inside the tackles. the fumbles are gone, the long gains from Denver are back, and we managed a WIN!!

i'm just hoping its not too late. if Brunell could only just place a throw, we'd be a true contender. but im hoping *gulp* that Gibbs isn't being too slow with the adjustments this year (hasnt Brunell used up all his chances? that Coles overthrow...) to save the season.

heh, i dont think Portis is the kind of guy to have ever lost confidence in himself, but was losing confidence in the system he was being asked to run. and considering his size and skillset, rightfully so.

from the post:

"Sellers also acted routinely as a fullback for Portis for the first time, helping to spring him on two key inside runs.

Gibbs finally ADJUSTED to his personnel. the week before vs. the Ravens, Gibbs had Cooley as a fullback who is catching TE with some blocking skills, but this game they put in big Mike Sellers (how often did we see him before this game?) and even though we were completely telegraphing the play, their defense and their big stud Urlacher couldn't stop it (unless by the facemask).


Interesting...does this mean we're playing Rasby and Sellers? Does it mean Cooley is only in for passing plays? I guess I've been so enamored with Cooley's potential that I never considered he could even be a liability

cooley played some as the fullback, but it showed that he's obviously never been a lead blocker before (or extensively)... sellers is probably the best for that job, either way, we had 4 TEs active and went with some 3 TE sets yesterday...

remember, sellers really wanted to be the short yardage back, so obviously he thinks he's got some skill at pushing people out of the way...

Interesting...does this mean we're playing Rasby and Sellers? Does it mean Cooley is only in for passing plays? I guess I've been so enamored with Cooley's potential that I never considered he could even be a liability
I think they are still in the process of adding more and more each week, while tweaking and adapting the system to the players strengths, so it probably won't be until the end of the season (or possibly next season) when the entire new version of Gibbs offense is fully installed. Because of that, there will be games when certain players stand out, but don't do much the following week. This doesn't do much for individual statistics, but it is huge for when other teams are trying to gameplan against us.....they won't know what is coming. For example, Rasby has had more passes coming to him than expected lately, since he's supposedly the blocking TE and the H-back is supposed to be more of a pass-catcher. Don't be surprised to see play action with Sellers in there and Cooley in blocking for running plays against GB. The element of unpredictibility is huge for an offense, and it seems like we are starting to have more of it....finally. Now if only we had a QB that could get the ball to the receivers ;)....