Crawling 'Skins face soaring Eagles
Carries for Portis seen as tactic Washington must use for success
It's kind of like that Disney commercial. Now that the Washington Redskins have ended a three-game losing streak and shed the dubious label of being the only NFL team yet to break the 20-point ceiling, what are they going to do next?
"We're looking for some momentum," said running back Clinton Portis. "Streaks always start with No. 1. We hope to get No. 2, and we'll build off of that."
To do that, Portis and the Redskins (4-8) are going to have to scrape for offensive yardage against the NFC East-champion Philadelphia Eagles (11-1), who visit FedEx Field at 8:30 tonight on a four-game winning streak and coming off a 47-17 rout of the Green Bay Packers.
Gouging a New York Giants defense that was missing four season-opener starters and three more players because of injuries for 379 yards of total offense and 31 points a week ago is one thing.
Trying to be as successful against an Eagles defense that confined Brett Favre and the Packers' high-octane offense to less than 130 yards in each half of last week's victory is another matter.
"I've been looking at the film, and it's not pretty," said Washington coach Joe Gibbs. "I think they're rip-roaring right now, and we've got them coming to town. We're obviously going to have our hands full."
The Redskins likely will try to stick to last week's game plan against the Giants, which entails giving the ball to Portis early and often.
Portis, whose use was questioned after he carried just six times for 17 yards in a 16-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks ago, gained 148 yards on 31 attempts against New York. Washington has won every game in which Portis has broken 100 yards - a coincidence not lost on cornerback Fred Smoot.
"Just keep giving Clinton the ball," Smoot said. "Good things happen when we do that."
The Eagles' defense will be without starting end Derrick Burgess (separated sternum), end Jerome McDougle (sprained knee) and backup linebacker Nate Wayne (aggravated hamstring injury).
Philadelphia has given up 75 rushing yards just once in its past four games, but the Redskins' giving Portis the ball will at least force Philadelphia to bring one or two safeties up to the line of scrimmage to stop him.
That could open passing lanes for Patrick Ramsey, who enjoyed his best game in three seasons as a Redskin last week, completing 19 of 22 passes for 173 yards, tying a career high with three touchdown passes and earning a 139.2 quarterback rating.
Ramsey, whose arm strength was supposed to keep opposing secondaries honest, said he has found a comfort level in a Gibbs-coached system that stresses high-percentage, short passes over high-risk bombs.
"To me, it really means being able to make sound decisions," Ramsey said. "If it's second-and-five and you have kind of a cloudy look at a 15-yard pass or you have a good look at a 5-yard pass for the first down, you take that and wait until you have an opportunity later to throw it downfield."
Getting the big play against Philadelphia will be a considerable challenge because the Eagles didn't give up one play of 20 yards or more in their 28-6 win over Washington on Nov. 21.
But Philadelphia coach Andy Reid, whose team has already locked up a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs and is trying to clinch home-field advantage throughout the postseason, said taking the Redskins seriously won't be difficult.
"The immediate thing you look at is the great job that the Redskins did against the Giants," Reid said. "That definitely catches our players' attention. The offense is playing well, and their defense has been playing well all year. So right away, you know you're going to be in for a heck of a game."
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