Clay Matthews

[RashanGary]

Is going to have a field day against "what's his name" on the left side of their line.


Either that, or that guy is going to need a lot of help and in that case, Raji, Jenkins, Jolly and whoever else blitzes are going to see a lot of favorable matchups.


Slower OT's just have no answer for Matthews speed on the edge.

[steve823]

Agreed..there are going to be a lot of favorable matches and we should get decent pressure.

You gotta give props to Kevin Greene though, hes doing a great job with our young OLBS.

[RashanGary]

Before Pickett went out, I think we were playing the best Packer defense we've seen in over a decade.

For a couple weeks we had everyone healthy (including Raji) and we got to see what I consider our best personnel grouping for rushing the passer.

Matthews
Jenkins
Raji
Jolly

Chillar
Barnett


It's hard to play Jenkins, Raji and Jolly in the nickle because we have to rotate them out to avoid fatigue. Now that Pickett is back, they can rotate out during base defense and I think we'll see some more of our baddest pass rushing group next week.

I really don't think there are many OL that can consistently stop any of our top 4 pass rushers. These guys are going to get home and give Warner fits with just 4.

Then, if they decide to give extra attention to Matthews, you can see Matthews drop and a surprise blitz coming from anywhere else. When you have studs up front, it opens up everything and anything.

Matthews is a very unique player. He can rush the passer with the best of them, and also drop into coverage. Having him show blitz and drop, is going to put really challenge their protection units. If they commit to stopping him, you can see free blitzers coming from other areas.

[ND72]

I said it when we drafted him...LOVE MATTHEWS. The scary part for the NFL is he is still learning how to play football and learning how HE can play football. His dip move, is just fun to watch. In his own way he is starting to learn how to "play" with offensive line much the way a player like Reggie White, and Jered Allen do. He'll bull rush, then he'll show those hands and dip through and around. It's really fun to watch.

[Cheesehead Craig]

That announcer whatshisface during the game mentioned a real key component to the AZ offense in that they don't use a TE very often and their RB usually goes out on pass routes. That leaves the T's going one on one with the edge rushers with little if no help or even a chip. If they don't give that T by Matthews some help, the immobile Warner is gonna get hit a lot next week.

[Bretsky]

That announcer whatshisface during the game mentioned a real key component to the AZ offense in that they don't use a TE very often and their RB usually goes out on pass routes. That leaves the T's going one on one with the edge rushers with little if no help or even a chip. If they don't give that T by Matthews some help, the immobile Warner is gonna get hit a lot next week.


Think it was Darryl Johnston sp? He was the RB during the SB years for Dallas when Irvin pushed off sometimes and at other times made Buckley look silly.

[pbmax]

That announcer whatshisface during the game mentioned a real key component to the AZ offense in that they don't use a TE very often and their RB usually goes out on pass routes. That leaves the T's going one on one with the edge rushers with little if no help or even a chip. If they don't give that T by Matthews some help, the immobile Warner is gonna get hit a lot next week.


Think it was Darryl Johnston sp? He was the RB during the SB years for Dallas when Irvin pushed off sometimes and at other times made Buckley look silly.
Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan. Ryan was a D lineman from USC and played for the Bears.

[wist43]

A speed rushing OLB on the weak side is what stirs the drink in a 3-4...

When we drafted Matthews I was somewhat skeptical in that he had only started one year at USC, and really didn't put up stats even then.

That said, he has the right body type for the position, and seemed to have the necessary quickness and speed - in the end, TT hit a home run on that pick.

With that most critical position filled on the defense, TT can concentrate on OT and CB in next years draft... switching to the 3-4 may well have saved his job.

[red]

yeah, that guy is gonna be having nightmares for the rest of the week

clay is gonna tear him up

and wait until we open up the playbook and blitz some of the other guys

[boiga]

These are good points. Whether AZ played to win or not on Sunday, the Packers won a lot of these individual matchups that we are going to see again in wildcard week.

While I'm still worried about Bush and the dimeback, if we can get strong pressure on the front end without rushing too many, we are going to win this game. A big game from Mathews against an over classed tackle could be the game winning matchup.

[RashanGary]

A speed rushing OLB on the weak side is what stirs the drink in a 3-4...

When we drafted Matthews I was somewhat skeptical in that he had only started one year at USC, and really didn't put up stats even then.

That said, he has the right body type for the position, and seemed to have the necessary quickness and speed - in the end, TT hit a home run on that pick.

With that most critical position filled on the defense, TT can concentrate on OT and CB in next years draft... switching to the 3-4 may well have saved his job.

I never expected this. Most positions require a combination of raw talent, natural feel, hard work and experience. OLB is one of those positions that I think requires a very wide range of skills, not to mention talents.

It seems like edge rushers with extreme speed/burst/dip and interior rushers with extreme explosivenss/burst can come in right away.

I didn't realize how physically gifted Clay is. It's not like he's out there finessing anyone. He hits the corner so fast and has the ability to get so low in doing it, he's just hard to block. That sets up his other moves.

I really never expected this. I kept telling the people I talk to that I don't expect much out of the rookie. Raji I thought had the rare physical ability to win matchups early. I did not expect that of Matthews. He's been the biggest surprise of the season for me. He's got a lot of football ahead of him, but early signs tell us he's a superstar.

[gbgary]

mr. matthews is a very exciting player. he looked good in preseason but didn't play much, that i remember, in the begining of the regular season. once he got in there, and showed, he couldn't be left out. an impact rookie is hard to get but to get two, maybe three counting jones, is fantastic. this may go down as tt's best draft after the rodgers draft. let's hope tt can get us a cb, wr, running back, and another o lineman in the next couple of years.

[Joemailman]

We all know about his pass rushing ability. One thing that gets overlooked is how much the Packers run defense improved once Matthews was inserted in the starting lineup. In the first 3 games the Packers gave up 130 YPG. Since then, it's been 69 YPG. Of course, not all of that is Matthews. Certainly Nick Barnett has gotten better as the season has progressed. However, Matthews was a big upgrade over Poppinga, who tended to get caught inside too much.

[MadScientist]

When TT made the trade, I thought he over paid to move up. Clay is proving to be cheap at any price.

[ThunderDan]

We all know about his pass rushing ability. One thing that gets overlooked is how much the Packers run defense improved once Matthews was inserted in the starting lineup. In the first 3 games the Packers gave up 130 YPG. Since then, it's been 69 YPG. Of course, not all of that is Matthews. Certainly Nick Barnett has gotten better as the season has progressed. However, Matthews was a big upgrade over Poppinga, who tended to get caught inside too much.

Is that how you describe every other play? :lol:

[KYPack]

We all know about his pass rushing ability. One thing that gets overlooked is how much the Packers run defense improved once Matthews was inserted in the starting lineup. In the first 3 games the Packers gave up 130 YPG. Since then, it's been 69 YPG. Of course, not all of that is Matthews. Certainly Nick Barnett has gotten better as the season has progressed. However, Matthews was a big upgrade over Poppinga, who tended to get caught inside too much.

There was an early game this season where Brady got washed inside by 5 or 6 yards. I groaned when I saw it. In a game or two, they started playing Clay. The feeling had to be, Popp will never get it, let's give the kid a shot. It worked

[ThunderDan]

We all know about his pass rushing ability. One thing that gets overlooked is how much the Packers run defense improved once Matthews was inserted in the starting lineup. In the first 3 games the Packers gave up 130 YPG. Since then, it's been 69 YPG. Of course, not all of that is Matthews. Certainly Nick Barnett has gotten better as the season has progressed. However, Matthews was a big upgrade over Poppinga, who tended to get caught inside too much.

There was an early game this season where Brady got washed inside by 5 or 6 yards. I groaned when I saw it. In a game or two, they started playing Clay. The feeling had to be, Popp will never get it, let's give the kid a shot. It worked

He didn't get washed inside. He simple went inside of his own choice. No one laid a glove on him. The RB took the ball and bounced it right where Popp was supposed to be.

[RashanGary]

Packers.com has a video about the Packers defense. They show several of Matthews sacks.



What I found interesting, something I never noticed, he is a very clever pass rusher. I'm shocked a rookie is able to do some of hte things he does.


One rush, in particular, against Dallas, he started way outside but as the QB went through his snap count, Matthews started to creep inside. Just as the ball is snapped he fires hard outside, getting the corner on Flozell. He did the same thing on a rush against Pittsburgh.

He really set up that outside move by making the OL think he was going to rush inside before the snap. He never let on that he was going outside. The very first clue that Matthews might blitz the corner is when he's already in the OL's grill. Then he's fast and has a great dip so it's too late.


His pass rush, for being so young, is shockingly sophisticated. He's blowing past these guys, but he's setting it up too. He's been a complete shock to me. I never expected much out of Matthews, was even disappointed in the pick.

I've had a few disagreements with Ted over the years and every time I disagree with him, I get proven wrong.