[memphisskin]

I think the tragedy of our running game is not that we're running Portis on less than ideal plays, but that we have yet to develop a short yardage back. I had hoped to see Betts fill that role this season, especially considering that Cartwright is too short to be consistently moving the pile. 1-2 punches work in the NFL, Dunn-Duckett & Cadillac-Alstott are just two examples that jump to mind.

I do think Portis has changed his running style some, instead of trying to make a play he too often covers up the ball with both hands and plows forward. In the Charger game I didn't see him cut back or have any wiggle on his runs, just plow straight ahead and get the yards ahead of him. That's not Portis! I want to see him darting through the hole, shaking the hell out of the safety and off to the races. That's the problem, we traded for Portis and have proceeded to turn that quarter horse into a plow mule. This running game doesn't need a big back to grind out games, just someone to move the chains and Portis was supposed to bring the added dimension of the big play. But where has that been? Maybe our small receiving corps is partially to blame since you need good downfield blocking to break those big runs.

We'll win once we are able to run more than we throw. Our superstar is Portis, and if we're going to run more stretch plays and zone blocking then we have to be committed to it. It's that commitment that makes Denver and Atlanta's run game work. When we try to sprinkle in the stretch plays they stick out like a sore thumb, like when Donnie Edwards called out the stretch and Brunell was forced to audible to a pass. By not committing either way we seem to have lost our identity, I mean who really are the 2005 Redskins? We're not as good defensively as we were last year, and while we are improved from last year offensively we're a long ways from being an offensive juggernaut. We've got to find an identity, and soon, or else we'll be handing Denver a top ten pick.