Portis' average
 

Today's Washington Times carries an article on the holes in the Redskins' offense with the following quote:

"His average gain, a gaudy 5.1 yards, was just 3.0 if you toss out the opening burst."

Although I agree that the passing game still looks a bit lame and Brunell's arm seems to be on par with the Gator QBs we had the last couple years, I'm sick and tired of hearing about how Portis' average wasn't that great - if you take away his long run.

I just think it's a stupid statement. Basically, they are saying, "If you take away the run where Portis made a great read on a play and then outran the entire Tampa defense to the end zone, he had a pretty mediocre day."

How about, "If you take away the fact that the 'Skins scored 35 points in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII, then we wouldn't have won the game."

Guess what asshole? The Skins DID score 35 points in the second quarter and Portis DID break a 64-yarder. Would it have been better if he had split that run into 2-32 yarders? How about 4-16 yarders? Would that have shut everyone up. Maybe Gibbs should tell Portis to pace himself better and not try to score on such long runs.

Yup. I agree. And, with or without the run, when the game was on the line at the end, Portis ran effectively enough to keep the chains moving. This was Gibbs football.

Didn't he run some little back from Michigan 40 times once (I think it was Joe Morris's little brother).

Joe don't care about the average/carry - Just move them chains.

I agree that Portis had a very good game. But, it is nonetheless noteworthy that he averaged 3/ypc without the 64-yard scamper. I do not believe that the run blocking was that good in the preseason and I don't think that it was that good against the Bucs.

So, noting 3/ypc is meaningful IMHO. It is one thing to break off one 95-yard run for one touchdown and have 5-yards on nine other carries, it is another to consistently gain 5 yards on each carry. The running game is important because: (1) it takes time of the clock if you are in the lead, (2) it keeps your defense resting on the sidelines, (3) it keeps the opposing defense working hard, and (4) it keeps the opposing offense off the field. Therefore, it is essential to be able to gain yardage, and first downs, on a consistent basis. You can't get #1-4 above if you are averaging 2.5/ypc and are going 3-and-out as a result; a long run which only takes 10 ticks off of the clock doesn't compensate for a bunch of 4th downs.

That said, I'm sure Bugel will get the run-blocking sorted out; he's certainly got the pass-protection at its best since the Hogs left.

jamie morris (#22) if im not mistaken

I'm also tired of hearing about it. The bottom line is what's important, and the bottom line is we won.

It's also worth noting the Bucs aren't exactly a pushover on D and they have one of the best D coordinators in the game. Did anyone really think that running on them was going to be easy??

[QUOTE=jrocx69]jamie morris (#22) if im not mistaken[/QUOTE]


Yup. That was him.

[QUOTE=Drift Reality]How about, "If you take away the fact that the 'Skins scored 35 points in the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII, then we wouldn't have won the game."[/QUOTE]

I love it! Nice job Drift

I agree with RamseyFan. Sure, I'll take the win and the big play, but kudos to the coaching staff and players for recognizing that the run-blocking must get better. Gotta have stuff to work on during practice other than Special Teams.

The important thing to remember is that you cant take away that 64 yd carry. How many times last year did we have big play potential? Portis gives us that big plya potential and is a new aspect that is great to have. The other thing is portis carried teh ball 29 times, thats a ton. He ran out the clock for us. Had betts run the clock out he would have ended up average around 7 a carry. They showed it during the game. How many carries did he have on the last drive or two that were meatn to run out the clock? When the season is over you dont see any of those things. Last year portis might have only average 3 a carry but broke atleast one big on a game, but no one complained that it averaged ou tto 5.5.

Undoubtedly the blocking can be improved. But -- PORTIS RAN THE BALL 29 TIMES.

Looks like the line is going to get ALOT of in game practice on how to block - at the other team's expense.

If he breaks another big run in the next game people will shut up. The Buc's have a great D. Not everyone else will.....

I agree nobody should consider it a bad day, because of the yard average thing, but it does present concerns. And personally, I think in general it is better to get multiple 15 yard runs then one big one. THat being said do remember it was Tampa Bay, and he did get a lot of carries. Personally I would like to see some more sweeps and toss plays

Plain and simple, it was a win and Portis was great. I don't care if we win all of the rest of our games by the score of 3-0. We will have won the Super Bowl and that is why we play the game. Like I said in another post, sports writers love flashy QB's and high scoring offense's, because it sells papers.
F- them.
Just win baby. I don't care what it looks like.

[QUOTE=Defensewins] sports writers love flashy QB's and high scoring offense's, because it sells papers. F- them.
[/QUOTE]

That's the quote of the day right there.

If you are a coach or a player, you will take the 3 yards a carry outside of the long run into perspective, as well as the lack of production in the passing game. You can't improve if you don't look at reality.

We were playing one of the best defenses that the NFL has seen, and you aren't likely to look so sharp against them as you would against a team with an average defense.

However, it is true that our performance does reflect the preseason. We have a long ways to go to reach our potential for this year.

Everything is new and players are still acclimating themselves. We have had a very serious injury that will take awhile to adapt to, as Kenyatta Jones learns the ropes.

Our offensive line needs to improve, and we will have to improve at quarterback.

I think Portis will have a monster game against the G-men, last week Portis was exhausted after that big run, his leg's were a little wobbly, and his stamina was not ready for a 29 carry day, this week he should be much stronger, couple that with the giant's stadium turf, and that stellar D the giant's possess, and he should be off to the races! ;)

Hey, we all knew the offense would take some time to come around. And it is. If this offense, in the first 4-6 weeks doesn't beat itself, this team will be on the right track. The D must carry the club for now. It did against TB and it will again this week. Better O numbers will come by October. Take it to the bank!

The "if you take away the 64 yd run, his average is 3 a carry" is inane!! How about if you take away his other 28 runs then he's averaging 64 yds a carry!
Of course the line has some work but remember, they run blocked more in this game than the whole of last season!!! (perhaps a bit of an exageration, but...)

[quote](perhaps a bit of an exageration, but...)[/quote]
let me check....






nope, that's entirely true. ;)

heh, I dont now about you guys but I thought Chad Morton made a great right tackle last year lining up against strahan

[QUOTE=SKINSnCANES]heh, I dont now about you guys but I thought Chad Morton made a great right tackle last year lining up against strahan[/QUOTE]

ha ha yeah, morton at RT and trung at LT...doesn't get much better than that :biggthump

you remember last year when Motron got creamed by strahan, lol. They still make fun of that play when they talk about spurriers blocking schemes

man, thats sad stuff :(

I think that they should have suited up Spurrier for a few plays and then let him decide who should be protecting the QB.

its just the perennial hating of the skins. i bet you a lotta backs wouldnt do so hot if you took out their long gains but ive never heard of that statistic. the "we dont count runs over your average stat". first game, new offense, bucs d... and i remember them winning in solid fashion soooo... CHILL

[QUOTE=VTSkins897]its just the perennial hating of the skins. i bet you a lotta backs wouldnt do so hot if you took out their long gains but ive never heard of that statistic. the "we dont count runs over your average stat". first game, new offense, bucs d... and i remember them winning in solid fashion soooo... CHILL[/QUOTE]

That's right, VT. In fact, Portis only averaged about 3 YPC in his 2 years in Denver, if you take away his 30+ yard carries. That entire concept is complete lunacy. What idiot writer came up with that anyway?? Another similar style (breakaway) runner, Barry Sanders, averaged LESS than 3 YPC if you took away HIS long runs. Maybe this clown thinks Barry should be booted out of the Hall of Fame??!!?? Give me a break. Why are guys like that writing in the sports pages, they should be writing the comic strip. Hopefully, no one here gave ANY credibility to it!

the only way i wouldn't count that 64 yarder is if it didn't happen.

Exacltly!!!!

You know, if you take away Matt Bowen's two sacks last week, he really doesn't deserve the be nominated as def player of the week!! C'mon!!!
If you take away FSU's loss to Miami, they're still undefeated!

yea,thats all bullsh*t,you can't be taking away runs or adding runs.it is what it is and thats all i gotta say about that right there.

[QUOTE=redwagonskins]
If you take away FSU's loss to Miami, they're still undefeated![/QUOTE]


heh, what an amazing game to be at!!! I knew when I was a freshmen how strong that rivalry was, but I didnt expect to never see FSU beat us. And even though ive graduated now Id still like that streak to continue.

you know SkinsnCanes, as much grief as I give you about the canes, the games are electric when you watch them on tv. UCLA v UW...hohum. ND v Michigan...ok if it's in Southbend but Ann Arbor has to be the quitest 101,000 people I've ever seen. But watching the canes is like watching a pro team, flying around the ball. I surf a lot of games on Saturdays but when the hurricanes are playing, it's tough to flip over to USC v BYU.

wait, did you get the canes game on tv yesterday??!?!?!?!?

Nope, just talking about Canes games in general.

oh I was goign to say. It wasnt televised in miami and no one knew why.

It was televised in DC

really? weird. No one understood why it wasnt on here. my girlfriends roomate does the broadcasts for the radio and no one there knew why it wasnt televised here either.

[QUOTE=redwagonskins]you know SkinsnCanes, as much grief as I give you about the canes, the games are electric when you watch them on tv. UCLA v UW...hohum. ND v Michigan...ok if it's in Southbend but Ann Arbor has to be the quitest 101,000 people I've ever seen. But watching the canes is like watching a pro team, flying around the ball. I surf a lot of games on Saturdays but when the hurricanes are playing, it's tough to flip over to USC v BYU.[/QUOTE]

would never be better than Notre Dame/Michigan..............

P.S. An Irish fan......... Go Renaldo Wynn............. :D