Redskins finally get Offensive, 31-7

All it took was some red socks and a load of work to get Clinton Portis and the Washington Redskins past the 20-point barrier, and finally playing "Redskin football". Using ball control, short passes and an outstanding defense, the Redskins beat the New York Giants 31-7.
Having been held to a few carries and a few yards during the team's three-game losing streak, Portis got the ball early and often Sunday. He gained 148 yards on 31 carries, running for one touchdown and scoring another on a shovel pass in the Redskins' victory over the New York Giants. ``I knew the team was going to be depending on me, and we finally went out and gave the defense what they wanted -- that was 21 points,'' Portis said. ``At halftime, we told them they'd better not blow the game for us.'' And Portis decided to go with red socks instead of the uniform white just to mix things up. And it must have worked.

The Redskins (4-8) led 21-0 at halftime and scored 20 in a game for the first time since Joe Gibbs returned as coach, ending their longest such drought since the 1930s. They scored more points than in their last three games combined, and they hit 30 for the first time since Week 2 of last season. Patrick Ramsey, making his third start since Mark Brunell was benched, completed 19 of 22 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns. The first two scoring drives went 93 and 91 yards against a Giants defensive line missing three-quarters of its opening day starters.

Portis had only six carries in last week's loss at Pittsburgh, but Gibbs gave him the ball on the first five plays and seven times in the opening drive. Portis has 1,093 yards on the season, giving him 1,000-plus in each of his first three years.The Redskins are 4-0 when Portis runs for 100 yards, 0-8 when he doesn't. ``He really wanted the ball, he always does,'' Gibbs said. ``I think after a couple of weeks of us not doing very well with the running game, I think he was really fired up. A lot of things that haven't been going well for us during the year went well for us tonight.''