Can Clinton Carry the Load?

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by BDBohnzie

I think Portis being the Skins #1 back is what pushes people like myself to say he needs to get the rock 25+ times a game. It could be anyone back there, but the bottom line is for this team to be effective, to play Gibbs football, the run game needs to be established. It allows the offense to take some pressure off a young quarterback...

Of course you don't run it so many times if you behind, but in the past, this team has been very successful when the QB has less than 30 attempts, and the RBs get 40+ carries. It usually means the Redskins have controlled the clock and the defense has done their job keeping the opponent's offense off the field. And I think that is the gameplan that Gibbs, Saunders and G-Dub has gone with thus far.

There are other variations that need to be implemented into the offense as well. Jason Campbell needs to be more accurate on his intermediate pass routes. It seems that if it's not chucking deep, or a short (less than 7 yards) dump, he's missing the boat. I mentioned 60% earlier (18 of 30), however in those completions, they cannot all be dinks and dunks. He needs to stretch the field a bit, in order for the run game to be more effective. Defenses have stacked the box and made the Redskins beat them deep. Gibbs 1.0 had that ability. But Gibbs 1.0 also had Art Monk, Charlie Brown, Alvin Garrett, Gary Clark and Ricky Sanders. While Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El are good receivers, they are no Clark and Sanders.

Another guy who has to step up is Mike Sellers. Too many missed assignments and too many drops for a guy who has been a catalyst in this offense in the past...

And the offensive line has had a few weeks together. It's time to put up or shut up. Injuries aside, these guys are professionals. Time to gel and move like one.

Sitting at 5-3, the Redskins are in a good position to make a run during the 2nd half. Last week, they proclaimed the "return of Redskins football". Let's see if they continue the course, or abandon it at the first sign of trouble.

First, before I respond to the bolded part in BD's post here, I have to say that GTripp has basically summed up my argument pretty well.

On to the bolded part. My whole thing here is that people tend to look back at our wins, and say hey, we ran a lot more than we threw in our wins. And people say hey, there's a theme there. If we run, we win. It's just not that simple - you can't just hand it off 40+ times and expect a win. If you hand the ball off 15 times in the first half, and you gain 30 yards on those carries and score only like 2 field goals, wouldn't you be an idiot to simply keep doing the same thing in the second half? You either need to start passing, or make some adjustments so your running game starts to work.

I think we're pretty much all on the same page here, we all agree the Skins' best chance is to run the ball. I'm just saying the line has to establish itself before you can think about how many carries a back should get.

In other words, the number of carries are the RESULT of a successful day. Not the CAUSE. The cause of a successful day would be the line smashing face - it comes down to coaching during the week (teaching technique, motivation, etc.) and then execution by the team.