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Grant Paulsen's column Date published: 10/22/2006
THE TIME HAS come for the NFL teams don't win consistently without successfully running the football, and the Redskins aren't an exception. Teams that throw more than they pass generally lose more than they win. Committing to the ground game is something the Redskins have yet to do, and it is without question the most troubling of the team's many issues. Washington's lack of commitment to its rushing attack cost them last Sunday's game to the previously winless Tennessee Titans. The Redskins established the run early in the game and quickly jumped out to a two-score lead. The only problem with that strategy was that they didn't stick with it. Associate head coach-offense Al Saunders called 27 plays in the second half, only eight of which called for a handoff. Washington's offense is built to run the football. When they were at their best late last season, the Redskins were stringing together wins behind the lethal legs of tailback Clinton Portis. Regardless of what the team's play selection to date tells you, Washington's success correlates more closely with Portis' play than anybody else's. If the Redskins are going to turn their season around, it won't be on the left arm of starting quarterback Mark Brunell. That isn't to say that he isn't going to play well, but rather that he shouldn't be the focal point of the team's offensive attack. "I really don't know, I can't even tell you," left guard Derrick Dockery said when asked why the Redskins haven't run the ball as regularly as expected. "When we do run it, though, we've got to get more than two yards at a time. Until we do, you've got to put the blame on us up front." Dockery is a fourth-year Redskin and the largest of Washington's starting offensive linemen,
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