A simply strategy: Run it, don't throw it

October 22, 2006 12:50 am

THE TIME HAS come for the Washington Redskins to start doing what they are built to do. Actually, the time had come about a month ago, but it's better late then never.

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. The pass-heavy approach cost the Redskins their lead and eventually the game.

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, a group affectionately known around Redskins Park as "The Dirtbags." He and his teammates will have a sterling opportunity to dominate the line of scrimmage today, when they oppose a suspect front four of the Indianapolis Colts defense.

"We're going to have to shove them around," Dockery said of the Colts' interior linemen. "They're a really good team, but we've got to go out there and get it right."

It's true; the Colts are a great team. That shouldn't come as news to anyone. They are one of only two remaining undefeated teams, and they've won 22 of their last 27 home games. As if Washington's mission weren't daunting enough, the Colts are well rested for today's game, thanks to a bye week.

The only chink in Indy's armor is that they are porous against the run. There isn't a defense in football yielding more rushing yards a game than the Colts, who give up an average of 167. Offenses running against the Colts this year have averaged more than five yards a carry. Expect the Redskins to exploit that glaring deficiency, one of the few the Colts have, in the nonconference clash this afternoon.

If the Redskins don't commit to their ground game today, they never will.

In the team's two wins this season Washington has run the ball more than they passed it. In each of their four losses, the Redskins have passed the ball more than they handed it off. That isn't a coincidence. Either the Redskins commit to the run, or they'll soon be done.

GRANT PAULSEN is an 18-year-old sportswriter who grew up in King George County and now attends George Mason University. He hosts a talk show each Saturday on XM radio. He can be reached at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia Street, Fredericksburg, Va. 22401, or by fax at 373-8455.