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Hi Folks,
Here's the lates from our friend Bob Harris of the www.tflreport.com on Washington RB Stephen Davis. Joe ///////////////////////////////////// SKINS WILL ASK DAVIS TO PULL THE LOAD AGAINST CHICAGO... Posted Friday December 21, 2001 @ 03:55 PT Washington running back Stephen Davis has been remarkably durable this season. He heads into his 14th game of the season and hasn't missed a game so far, the first time in the past two seasons he has been able to do that. However, Davis -- listed as questionable this week with a bruised knee -- is clearly showing signs of wearing down after hauling the rock 275 times this season. Davis, who sat out Wednesday's workout all together, only took part in portions of Thursday's practice. Nonetheless, head coach Marty Schottenheimer told reporters he expects the tailback to practice fully Friday before starting and playing as usual against the Bears this Sunday. Of course, no one can be sure how his knee will hold up against one of the more punishing defenses in the league. That could be a problem because Ki-Jana Carter is still bothered by a sore shoulder. Carter has had just six carries in the past three games. The team will need to get more out of him this week because Davis is likely to need more rest than usual. ... Whatever the case might be, the Redskins desperately need Davis to carry the load. So far this season the Redskins are 3-1 when he gains 100 yards. Given the fact that quarterback Tony Banks has tailed off the last couple weeks, Washington is geared towards running 40 times against Chicago. "It's going to be physical," Davis said yesterday. "We've got to go do what we do best: Control the clock [and] keep their offense off the field." The Redskins have been doing what they do best especially well the past two weeks with Davis, whose 1,116 yards rank third in the NFL, racking up 110 yards at Arizona on Dec. 9 and 111 yards against the Eagles last weekend. Washington ranks a solid 10th in the NFL in rushing offense (115.8 yards), and that figure would be even higher if the club hadn't struggled so badly during an 0-5 start. The Redskins have averaged 135.9 rushing yards over the past nine games; for the season, only one team averages more (Pittsburgh, 174.2). The Bears, on the other hand, have held opponents to less than 100 yards on the ground eight times this season, including Tampa Bay last weekend (61 yards on 18 carries). And Chicago has only allowed two running plays of 20 yards or more this season (Davis has six such runs this season). "My thing is, we've got to go in there and see what's going to work," Davis said. "We'll run some plays, see what works against them and just play hard." It's worth noting that two of Chicago's last four opponents have topped the 100-yard mark, including Green Bay two weeks ago. That day the Packers rushed for 167 yards in a 17-7 victory. The Redskins believe they could have similar success. They don't want to belittle the Bears' ranking or reputation, but they're ready to test the Bears primary strength "Our identity is to run the ball," tight end Walter Rasby said. "We're a running offense. We take pride in what we do best. It's not anything about the Bears are coming to town, saying this or saying this. We do what we do. They do what they do. It's going to be a good, physical football game up front." ************* Our View ************* The only thing that I'd add to this would be the Bears have not played as well on rush defense lately as they had earlier in the season. They did hold Tampa Bay down last week and they did limit Detroit to 67 yards rushing in week 12. But they also gave up 124 yards rushing to Minnesota and a whopping 167 yards rushing to Green Bay two weeks ago. They are very good but in my opinion, they're not in the "shut down" category of rushing defenses like Pittsburgh is this year or Baltimore was last year. In fact, over the last 4 weeks, they rank # 16 in the league. I think they're better than that but clearly some teams have recently had success against them. We'll know more after Friday's practice but wanted to shoot this to you now. Also, don't understimate the impact of Ki-Jana Carter's injury. Without a solid alternative, Davis may be asked to do more than he would if Carter was 100%. Joe /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ Bryant Analytics, Inc. All Rights Reserved 1999-2001 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: cheatsheets-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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