[Schneed10]

What's worst about this is Portis is missing the point and fanning flames in the locker room with poor thinking and poor analysis. His carries didn't decline because the team decided not to give him the ball. His carries declined because he and the offensive line were a lot less effective.

In those first nine games he average 5.0 yards per carry. In the last seven, he averaged 3.5.

When you're ripping off 5.0 yards per carry the team ends up moving the chains an awful lot, controlling the clock, and hence can feed you more carries. When you're only putting up 3.5 you end up punting a lot more because the chains aren't moving as well.

In the first 9 games, the team rushed the ball on 46% of its offensive plays. In the last 7, they rushed it 41%. But again, this is reflective of poorer performance of the running attack. If you're getting into 2nd and 7s instead of 2nd and 5s, of course the team has to up the passing attempts in order to get first downs.

He's off base. He and the offensive line need to look at themselves first.