Two BRIGHT spots from PIttsburgh game

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by Big C

what is going on with portis.

Other than being mostly ineffective today, Portis' running style didn't mesh well with the sloppy field. Portis kept slippin' and slidin'. Betts did a pretty good job and was the better back for the conditions because of his power running. Also, when you're down 13-0 against the Steelers, you have to go to the passing game, because coming back on that defense is tough.

[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.

[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.

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by joecrisp

...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...

That's really not what I had expected at this point in the season from a Gibbs/Bugel-coached team. But then, nothing is what I'd expected this year.

The middle of the line, along with inconsistent play from Chris Samuels are the main culprits along the line as I see it.

It already appears that Derrick Dockery is not panning out as expected, and as others have mentioned, it's about time we addressed the center position seriously rather than relying on has-been free agents and converted guards like Lennie Friedman.

[sportscurmudgeon]

Someone said that Ramsey played better than Roethlisberger yesterday - as if that were really important.

Let me show you how meaningless single game stats can be in terms of evaluating the overall value of players.

Yesterday:


Roethlisberger 9 for 20; 131 yards; 0 TDs; 0 INT; sacked 4 times

Ramsey 19 for 34; 138 yards; 1 TD; 1 INT; sacked 5 times

AJ Feeley 17 for 33; 159 yards; 1 TD; 1 INT; sacked 1 time


So obviously, if you were starting a new team and had to take a QB and these were the three options open to you, you'd take AJ Feeley, right? And of course Roethlisberger is clearly the worst of the lot, right?

[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

Someone said that Ramsey played better than Roethlisberger yesterday - as if that were really important.

Let me show you how meaningless single game stats can be in terms of evaluating the overall value of players.

Yesterday:


Roethlisberger 9 for 20; 131 yards; 0 TDs; 0 INT; sacked 4 times

Ramsey 19 for 34; 138 yards; 1 TD; 1 INT; sacked 5 times

AJ Feeley 17 for 33; 159 yards; 1 TD; 1 INT; sacked 1 time


So obviously, if you were starting a new team and had to take a QB and these were the three options open to you, you'd take AJ Feeley, right? And of course Roethlisberger is clearly the worst of the lot, right?

That kind of comparison IS important and meaningful, SC, when all other things are equal. But that is so clearly NOT the case that, of course, it becomes a moot point to argue that Ramsey performed better than Roethlisberger. There were so many other problems for the Redskins in that game, that Ramsey would have had to put up at least 250 yards and 3 TDs with zero interceptions for his stats to be relevant. Considering that no quarterback has put up that kind of performance against the Steelers all season, I'd say that's a pretty tall order for a quarterback starting only his second game this season.

And I don't think anyone's saying Ramsey-- or Feeley for that matter-- are better quarterbacks than Roethlisberger. I think folks are just trying to point out that maybe Ramsey didn't do all that bad against the league's top defense. He actually did better against this defense than some of his counterparts who have faced this defense and also lost...

And in this particular game, he actually did perform statistically better against the top defense than everyone's favorite golden boy did against the league's #2 defense. But it didn't matter because the Steelers are a better team than the Redskins-- and that's something that nobody can argue against.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

Someone said that Ramsey played better than Roethlisberger yesterday - as if that were really important.

Let me show you how meaningless single game stats can be in terms of evaluating the overall value of players.

Yesterday:


Roethlisberger 9 for 20; 131 yards; 0 TDs; 0 INT; sacked 4 times

Ramsey 19 for 34; 138 yards; 1 TD; 1 INT; sacked 5 times

AJ Feeley 17 for 33; 159 yards; 1 TD; 1 INT; sacked 1 time


So obviously, if you were starting a new team and had to take a QB and these were the three options open to you, you'd take AJ Feeley, right? And of course Roethlisberger is clearly the worst of the lot, right?

let me show you why you think those stats are misleading:

Defensive Ratings:
Pittsburg: #1, #3 passing (244ypg, 169 passing (54.5% completion), 36 sacks)
Washington: #2, #5 passing (267ypg, 176 passing (58% completion), 27 sacks)
San Fransisco: #14, #17 passing (325ypg, 211 passing (62% completion), 22 sacks)

roth got 45% completion vs a 58% completion defense
feeley got 51.5 completion vs a 62% completion defense
ramsey got 56% completion vs a 54.5% completion defense

if you include the relevant information, they're on target...