Two BRIGHT spots from PIttsburgh game

[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

What's going on with Portis?

The last two weeks he has stunk out the joint. When they give him the ball he goes down as soon as he is hit. When they throw him the ball he drops is. When it is a passing down and he is in the backfield, he has been a marginal blocker. Other than that, he's been fine the last two weeks.


Cooley catches the ball well, but figure him to break a tackle after catching a 4 yard pass and rambling for 30+ yards about once or twice a season. Good hands/slow feet.

You're right, SC. Lately, Portis has been looking a lot like Trung Canidate. He's definitely not a "mudder", as Bettis likes to describe himself. Like Canidate, Portis needs a fast track to make the most of his speed and agility, and like Canidate, Portis does not do well at running inside or following lead blockers. Betts is definitely the better back for sloppy conditions and inside running.

As for Cooley, I don't expect him to ever be a Shockey/Gonzalez/Heap type of tight end, but he has been and will continue to be a very good safety valve for Ramsey, and hopefully, Ramsey will learn to rely upon Cooley when the blitz is on. If the Redskins can hit a 4-yard pass on every down, with the occasional 30 yard rumble after the catch, that's better than they've been doing. Of course, they will need to stop putting themselves in long-yardage situations with stupid penalties like the ones that have been killing them for the past three seasons.