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Originally Posted by dgack
Everyone's hung up on the 120 yards, but the game stats tell a different story... we outgained them on the ground, 95-75.
The only real difference in offenses is, that Williams left the middle open all game long, to prevent the depleted corners from getting burned by a quick Galloway strike. And with the exception of the break on the dropped/reffed Shepherd TD, it worked, all game long.
On the other side of the ball, we were playing classic conservative Gibbs football with a lead. Of course they Tampa put up some yards, they had to be aggressive, and that's evidenced by the almost twice as many passes thrown.
The real reason these writers are having a field day with the 120 yards is because they're trying to portray the Skins as this broken down van rolling up to the start line, racing against a Ferrari. We've got no offense, and Seattle's starting O is basically the entire Pro Bowl roster. What a story!
This is nothing but good for us. It's bulletin board material for our defense who are going to come out angry, and it puts all this pressure on Seattle to come out and just smoke us because we don't deserve to be on the same field as them. And that has a way of backfiring on you.
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Great post, dgack. Particularly the part about the running game stats. When you're in a defensive slugfest like this one was, it comes down to who is more successful running the ball. In this case, that is certainly a relative measurement, but I think it's clear that Portis and Betts gained the tough yards when it mattered, and kept the Skins offense on the field just long enough to hold the Bucs at bay.
And maybe instead of cracking on Portis for talking about his shoulder injury-- a topic which a reporter brought up at the press conference, by the way-- maybe the guy should compliment him for continuing to go back for more punishment against the #1 defense; playing though the pain and battling for the hard-earned yards when his team needed him down the stretch. Portis didn't present his shoulder injury as an excuse, either. He pretty much brushed it off, saying it's just something he's going to have to play through until the season is over. He didn't try to make a big deal about it. This Skins-hating reporter just tried to make it sound like Portis was making excuses, which wasn't the case at all.
Maybe he should have noted that Portis aggravated the injury when he knocked Shelton Quarles on his butt, doing with devastating efficacy what most runningbacks shy away from-- pass-blocking. Portis, while being a 1500 yard rusher, also pass blocks better than darn near any fullback in the league. Portis is one of the toughest dudes you'll ever meet. To suggest he's using injuries as an excuse is downright ignorant.
Apparently, this guy hasn't figured out that anything over 3 yards a carry against the #1 defense ain't too shabby. Particularly when the Bucs were putting 10 men at the line of scrimmage at times, knowing the Skins were in conservative, ball-control mode.
That was just a weak, ill-founded article by a feeble-minded writer.