Clinton Portis stood up in the meeting and laid out a simple request, one he delivered to the coaches as well. His knee, the one he nursed all summer, was ready for heavy lifting. So he wanted to put the team on his back.
Considering the Redskins were still smarting from a 45-point loss, they knew Portis and the ground game was the easy antidote to their collectively bruised psyche. Shaun Suisham might have won the game with his 46-yard kick in overtime — not to mention his four other field goals — but it was Portis who dictated the game for Washington.
He rushed 36 times for 196 yards, his best day as a Redskin, leading Washington (5-3) to a needed 23-20 overtime victory vs. the New York Jets (1-8). The win capped a soul-searching week for the Redskins, coming off a 52-7 defeat at New England.
“I am ready to carry this team,” Portis said.
“He’s saying, ‘Give it to me,’ ” Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said.
Portis provided the salve — though it must be noted the Jets entered with one of the NFL’s worst-run defenses. The Redskins rushed for 296 yards. That’s one reason why Washington stuck with the run despite trailing 17-3 early in the second quarter.
“It’s the first time at 17-3 that I felt good, that we would come back to win,” Portis said. “We knew [their defensive line] would get tired.”
“We had patience with it,” Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said.
The Redskins weren’t complex with what they ran, often changing the look through shifts and motions.
The success enabled Portis to find his rhythm. One play provided proof of why that’s important. The Redskins had hurt New York running to the left, but Portis, listening to his offensive linemen and seeing evidence in pictures on the sidelines, knew the cutback lane was available.
So, on a second and 1 in the fourth quarter, Portis started left and dashed back to the right for a season-best 32-yard run. The play led to a 1-yard touchdown run, giving the Redskins a 20-17 lead.
“Two years ago I was finishing them runs,” Portis said. “When I get to that point, you might as well aim toward the pylon and meet me down there. I have to get back to finishing those runs.”
But, for a day, the Redskins got back to giving him many opportunities.
“A lot of times when you’re having problems you can try and do too much,” right tackle Todd Wade said. “We felt confident with what we have.”
Said center Casey Rabach, “We kept asking for the ball and the coaches kept feeding it to us.”
