Portis in 2005

I guess he realized it didn't work last year. And just like his first tenure, it's all about execution. If it's executed correctly, the defense shouldn't be able to stop it.

I don't think we'll see an entirely different offense this year. It wil have some different wrinkles, but it doesn't need a complete overhaul.

I think we'll see a running game that caters more to Portis and a passing game that will look to stretch the field more, but the basics of a Joe Gibbs offense will still be there. Pound the rock, protect the QB, and take shots down the field.

Execution is great, but you need to have superior atheletes at the positions to do that, because sometimes the opposing defense executes too. So I feel schemes are far more important now. I may have used the wrong wording -- I don't think the whole offensive philosophy will change. We will be a ball control offense, Portis will touch the ball a lot. Which I'm all for. I think that we set up more plays where the receivers can get yards after the catch more than a deep bomb game, though we'll throw a few a game. I also think the play calling and schemes will have advanced thanks to a full off-season and knowing his players better (kinda, been some turnover on the offensive side)

Anyone else finding it odd that Gibbs is openly talking about these changes-shotgun, zone blocking? The Gibbs I remember would keep things close to the vest and then unleash it when the time is right.

A couple of reasons he is sharing this year may be:

1. He knows we are concerned that his style of offense is outdated, and that he may be unwilling to change enough to make him competitive.

2. When you keep something a secret, and everyone knows you have a secret, it adds more value to the secret. Thus inflating the value of a simple shotgun formation. And it might not work. And then your big bad secret looks like a bigger joke.

3. When the players last year were telling reporters that we hadnt even used any of our "new" plays yet. That they were going to work them in. I half expected Clinton Portis to grow wings and fly to the end zone. Less hype is good(in case it doesnt work), and keeping it a secret from other teams is a waste of time. It's how often you use the play variations. Like Im sure Lovie Smith would love to know how many times we plan to line up in the Shotgun. But he wont know until game day.

I think due to the fact that we have super fast revievers, your not gonna see 8 in the box all the time like last season. Then again, were gonna have to make defenses respect our running game. I'm saying Portis runs for 1600+

I think we'll see 8 in the box till we prove that you can't do that. I don't think it was the lack of quality at receiver last year that really made them stack the box. It was that they knew it was a run or a short pass 95% of the time, they also knew our offense better than half of our team seemed to.

Once our guys on the outside make them pay then we will have portis over 4YPC.

I agree. I DO think that we have the tools to do that. Just get Moss, Jacobs or Patten sprinting down the sidelines and have Ramsey hit them with a bullet and they'll back way off.

If you were to ask anyone around the league what changes the Skins should make to improve the offense, I'd be surprised if you didn't find the majority would say add the shotgun and use more zone blocking for Portis.

So perhaps the reason Gibbs isn't keeping this a secret is because there's not much of a secret to keep.

Saying we're adding the shotgun and tweaking the running game isn't exactly giving much up.

1754, and you can take that to Vegas, baby!

I'm with the Rat.

I agree Matty, Portis clearly had success running behind a zone blocking scheme and Gibbs has definitely made Portis the centerpiece of our offense. After a year of forcing a round peg into a square hole of course Gibbs is going to tweak things.

The key to me is improved pass protection, a slightly revamped running game and better quarterback play. We make some plays early in the passing game and Portis will be MVP this year. Portis is a home run hitter, but he's not the kind of guy who can power through 8 man fronts. What he is though, is an exciting and electric runner who should score at least 12 tds this year. When's the last time we had a guy score double digits tds for us?