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When the Redskins offensive line punched holes in the Eagles defense Sunday, Clinton Portis took advantage, rushing for 145 yards and a TD. |
BY ADAM HIMMELSBACH
PHILADELPHIA
--Sometime on Sunday afternoon, Redskins guard Randy Thomas jokingly asked running back Clinton Portis when he would break a long, lose-your-breath run.Rather than complain about what he had yet to accomplish, Portis was most grateful for what he had.
"I told him I was just glad to have a 20-yarder now," Portis said, smiling. "Those used to be hard to come by."
Last season, Portis had three runs of 20 yards or more.
This year, he has already topped the 20-yard mark four times, and there are still 11 regular-season games remaining.
Portis has two 100-yard games this season. Through the first five games last year, he had none.
On Sunday, Portis ran for 145 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, helping the Redskins come back from a 14-point deficit in their 23-17 win over Philadelphia.
Most impressively, his effort came against an Eagles run defense that entered the game as the league's best, allowing just 53.8 yards per game.
"Whether you go 90 yards or three chunks of 30, it's gonna add up," Portis said. "So let's just keep plugging."
Portis said the key to breaking long runs is getting to a defense's "second level," beyond the defensive linemen and sometimes beyond the linebackers
When a running back reaches that point and is still on his feet, Portis said, he has an opportunity to make one defender miss.
Also, it is easier to break one tackle in the secondary than it is to break three at the line of scrimmage.
"They were able to break some of the gaps and make some big runs," Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard said. "Portis has good vision, so he was able to find a seam."
Portis said that in recent years, he has done most of his bobbing and weaving behind the line of scrimmage.
This season, the success of the Redskins' passing game has opened lanes for Portis that were previously little more than daydreams.
"He does a really nice job of slicing through defensive lines," Redskins coach Jim Zorn said, "and that's what he did [against the Eagles]. He's a slicer and a dicer."
And, it turns out, he is also a play-caller.
With less than three minutes left in Sunday's game, the Redskins held a six-point lead and faced a fourth-and-1 from the Philadelphia 38-yard line.
As Zorn considered his options, Portis scooted to the sideline and suggested the Redskins run a draw play.
It was the same play Portis had scored a 4-yard touchdown on earlier in the fourth quarter.
"[Zorn] just looked at me," Portis said.
But after a few moments the coach then relayed the play to quarterback Jason Campbell, who shared it with the rest of the offense.
Out of the shotgun formation, Portis took a handoff and plowed forward for three yards.
"He called it, he ran it, and he got it," Zorn said. "That was a huge, huge play."
And for Portis, the grass--and the schedule--before him appear even greener.
The Redskins' next three games come against the St. Louis Rams, the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions, all of which have run defenses that rank in the league's bottom third.
NOTE
Zorn said defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin suffered a sprained right shoulder on Sunday. Zorn also said rookie wide receiver Malcolm Kelly, who was a surprising addition to the active roster on Sunday, had some minor swelling in his knee.
Adam Himmelsbach: 540/374-5442
Email: ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com
