The Mathews Question

Too much yahting in offseason

Hair is too long

For the record, I went boating in watch hill Rhode Island last weekend to see the mansions, not yachting.

Mathews has one more tackle & one less sack than Perry does in double the snaps....he has to be hurt. 

well, I tried

I'll say that he's at least done a lot of grunt work that has created opportunities for others on the team that maybe doesn't get all of the attention. The overall team pass rush appears to be a little ahead of last year, and we know that INTs are on pace to double last year's total, another sign of good pressure.

Still, just focusing in on him on several plays yesterday, something is definitely off. Even as he appears to have settled into his more traditional edge rusher role, he's just not getting home. Not sure what's up, but it's definitely an area of concern.

Matthews is playing the way he usually does when his hamstring is bothering him.  that's about all I can come up with.

Read option QB's are causing him problems IMHO. Against Miami on a few occasions the announcers showed replays where if he crashed inside toward the RB the QB kept it and ran around him. If he stayed outside to contain the QB the RB got the ball and ran inside.

I also think the groin issue is still impacting him somewhat.

I still think he'll get his sacks, and they will come in bunches, especially against QB's who take deeper drops.

Kworst, whatever the reason, Matthews has been a non-factor this year.

He will make a play here and there, but has been largely just another guy on the field.

Just a quick glance at stats for OLB show some surprising results.

Anthony Barr in Minnesota has 36 T, 2.0 sacks, 0 FF,  0 INT

Lance Briggs, Chicago has 22 T, 0 sacks, 0 FF, 1 INT

Tamba Hali, Tampa Bay has 16 T, 3.0 sacks, 2 FF, 0 INT

Jelani Jenkins, Miami, 44 T, 1.5 sacks, 1 FF, 0 INT

The points is, guys that make nowhere near the money Matthews does are playing as well, or better than he is. Hell, Clay is not performing as well as Peppers, and is playing on par with Nick Perry!

I don't know if he is/was masking another injury from TC, if it's all Capers fault, or what the deal is, but it's clear something is wrong.

He needs to contain on that read option and failed big time twice.  They also took advantage of his reckless / undisciplined play with a couple screens.

Obviously something is bothering him physically, but that doesn't excuse those mental lapses.  Bad game, we need better from him.

Now Can Newton is coming to town.  Better get it fixed and fast.

I'm thinking it is more about how Capers is using him and Peppers together. When they come off the field and Neal and Perry come on that combo has been more productive. Less scheme with the latter two?

somehow I want to see Peppers, Perry and Matthews on the field at the same time.  Would that mean Perry playing DE?  so be it.

edit: Perry's looked good in spot play.  Curious to see if he can continually bring it.

Neal - Hawk - Matthews

Peppers - Daniels - Jones - Perry

Move Clay inside on a few downs with the others at OLB. There is nothing Hawk or Jones can do that Clay can't do better.  Clearly would be a better blitzer. 

Wrong.  They can both suck way, way better than Matthews, and Jones in particular is transcendent at the art of soul-crushing, idiotic penalties that keep the defense on the field after an otherwise-successful stop on third down.  If you want to tackle a ball carrier 7-8 yards down the field, there is simply no one better than Hawk.  

There is a lot CMIII cannot do that those two stiffs handle with aplomb.

Being poised while sucking is a talent that should not be overlooked.

#Packers Perry.. On the field for first 3rd down of game. Shows how well he's been playing.Earned reps @NickTheGreat8

Clay is getting plenty of one on one chances.  He simply isn't winning enough.

It's pretty clear to me he's not healthy.  Whether it's the groin, the annual hammy problem or whatever, the burst isn't there.  IMHO the bye in a couple of weeks will do him a lot of good.  

IMO, he needs to sit.  Down.  On the bench.  Until he is 100% healthy.

What is becoming clear is, Mathews is great when, and only when, he is not hurt.  He is just not one of those guys who can be effective when he is injured.  I never saw him double-teamed once against Miami.  Whoever was assigned to him blocked him, no problem.  He would dance a little and quit.  Heart is in the right place, but the motor quits without horsepower. 

Where it gets bad is, he still wants to make the big play so he jumps his assignment to try to "cheat" his way to the ball, but he's hurt, so even that doesn't work, and a big play ensues in his vacated spot. Not good.  Better off with a healthy backup.  Yesterday, Clay did his job correctly once. Once, when he held the edge and turned the run inside. One play out of how many?

This is not,,,,no.  Just no.

I know he wants to play and I love him for it.

Maybe he has a GF we don't know about.

As long as it's not

I don't care

I agree with most that he is playing, but doesn't appear to be healthy.  I wonder if having a new position coach has had a negative effect on his play?  We all know that K Greene could challenge you to run through a wall, but K Greene isn't there.  Maybe he's working on a new technique?   

He has a groin injury & can't go full speed. He's gutting it out. Hopefully it will heal in time for the playoffs

So it is a GF.

Originally Posted by cuqui:

Originally Posted by Hungry5:

Maybe he has a GF we don't know about.

As long as it's not

 

 

I don't care

What if they're into threesomes?  (nttawwt)

In that case, CMIII's groin would fall off.

It isn't going to get better if he keeps playing with it.....if he is not productive with the injury sit him until it is healed. 

Just confirming what we've all seen:

@ByRyanWood: Clay Matthews had no tackles vs. Dolphins, only 4th time in his career that's happened. Half of those games have come in this calendar year.

 

@ByRyanWood: Matthews has career-low 14 tackles through 6 games, one fewer than number of tackles through first 6 games of his rookie season.

I know that everyone has been harping on Clay with his play against the read-option, but I can't believe that he is set-up to defend both players.  One thing that I noticed, at least on a couple of the plays, was that the D-end, I believe Daniels both times, was blocked inside, forcing Clay to make a decision on which player to commit to (exactly what an option play is supposed to do).  Not knowing the Packer's scheme, it is tough to say if he is assigned to the QB or the pitch man, but in most cases, it never appeared that anyone else was assigned to either.  That to me seems more like a scheme issue, than poor play by Clay.  Someone else on here may have more insight on this.  

Regardless, he doesn't seem to have that burst off the line when pass-rushing, and I do think his groin must be bothering him.

HGH or other PEDs.   It really makes you wonder. 

packers McCarthy: I'm very comfortable with the way Clay (Matthews) is playing. Grades are consistent. He's a big-time player. Production will come. 10/13/14, 3:27 PM

As a coach you don't want to blast your players in the press, but I think it's interesting that he says that he grades out consistent.

quote:

Grades are consistent.

Clay Mathews at some point this season:

Shhhhhhhhh

The end got caved in, but Clays #1 job is to contain.  He failed to do that twice letting the QB get the edge.  If he can get to the rb, great, but his primary role is contain.

There was a long segment on one of the local radio stations today about Clay's lack of production. They pointed out that bringing Peppers in was supposed to free up Matthews from double teams; well it has, but Matthews is still not getting through when he's being blocked one on one. It turns out that Guion is grading out better on pass plays than Matthews is. Ouch.

Dum dum, you are missing the C. It's spelled yahtcing, right Kworst?

PBoi, you see who is getting double- (and triple-teamed in the middle of your screenshots, right?