Smoke Signals: It's Betts or bust!

Yesterday, Head Coach Jim Zorn said Ladell Betts will go back to the bench as soon as Clinton Portis is healthy enough to play because Zorn doesn’t want a concussion to cost Portis his starting job. Read it. Now, READ THIS to understand why Zorn is making the wrong decision. The starting running back for the Washington Redskins should be Ladell Betts. Read it.

Post columnist Tracee Hamilton also makes the case for Betts:

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Zorn and the Redskins can’t deny that their offense, in the past six quarters, has looked immeasurably better. Betts had 114 yards on 26 carries, a 4.4-yard average, with a touchdown in Sunday’s victory. Most of that running is what he later called “downhill,” barging straight ahead through whatever sliver of daylight the offensive line provided.
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Of course, it’s not just Betts’s individual numbers; it’s also this: 22 first downs, tying the Redskins’ best total this season. Nine came on running plays, most for the Redskins this season. Net yards rushing: 174. Rushing plays: 40. Both are season highs. Their 27 points were the most they’ve put up this season — easily. And so on.

And it’s not just the rushing numbers, either. Those numbers created these numbers: 214 and 10. That’s passing yards and receivers with catches. Jason Campbell ran the gamut from A. Randle El to T. Yoder, using all his weapons and most of the alphabet. He completed 17 of 26 passes, was sacked three times and had no interceptions.

Betts didn’t do all that single-handedly. But everyone knows a running game boosts the passing game. That’s NFL 101.

“It means a lot,” tight end Fred Davis said of Betts’s effort. “Who doesn’t like running the ball like that? It helps the passing game, it helps a lot of things when you got the running game going like last week in the second half. Start the running game going, some passes there, a few runs here. Ladell, he. . . stepped in when we needed it.”

What we heard in the locker room after the game was this: We weren’t surprised by Betts. We see him do it in practice all the time.

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CB Carlos Rogers, benched for bad play all season [the 40-yard TD against Denver was just the final straw] may not get his starting job back. Apparently, Fred Smoot and Justin Tryon are also candidates for that job. I’d give it to Tryon, as we already know what Smoot is — very limited. Also, let’s get CB Kevin Barnes, a big, rangy, 3rd round draft pick from Maryland, into the game. Read it.

The offense looked good last Sunday because they actually executed the game plan and the game plan wasn’t half bad. In particular, using two tight ends to block off Denver’s back-end pursuit — which has been a major problem for the six teams Denver has defeated this season — was a major success. Read it.

There is a pretty good chance Albert Haynesworth [ankle] won’t practice on Wednesday, but he is still expected to play on Sunday if reasonably healthy. The team is at least a week away from knowing more about when or if TE Chris Cooley will be back this season. Read it.

Read it at

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2009/11/17/smoke-signals-its-betts-or-bust.html