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No one expects him to be as good as LT, but LT did fumble 3 times in his first 2 games...just saying.
you clearly need to watch more of this guy when he isn't playing in a swamp. He is known for his burst and power.
Why forget the KC game? Conditions were setup for running the football and, even when they were not down by 2 scores, San Diego was a throwing offense.
Especially since Jamaal Charles, Javier Arenas, and Dexter McCluster had no problems making people miss.
I hope people weren't expecting him to get 85% of the team's RB carries like Chris Johnson gets.Before the season, I had Mathews projected to get 69% of the RB carries, and Monday night he actually got 73%. I think that's about what we can expect going forward as Sproles continues in the third-down/two-minute role, and Tolbert gets a series or two each game as well.Nonetheless, that's plenty to make Mathews a solid fantasy RB2, at a minimum.On Monday night, I was impressed by his power and balance, but not by his run vision. I thought he chose the wrong hole a few times (although it's hard to tell from the TV angles).
That's quite a common mistake.
I think he'll break more than his fair share of tackles over the course of the season, but he may not make many people miss. He's a power-runner with excellent straight-line speed, but he doesn't have anywhere near the lateral agility or moves of, say, a young LaDainian Tomlinson.
This is just what I was thinking. He didn't look like he was hitting the holes cleanly and often seemed to be running up the back of his blockers. Maybe the holes just weren't there but that was my take on him.
It's the late game absence that concerns me. Yes, they were passing but there was plenty of clock and he wasn't in the game. He got 2 carries in the 4th quarter and wasn't in the game on the final drive (or during the 2-minute drill at the end of the first half). They also weren't very creative on getting him the ball. They only threw to him twice, with one completion, and both were in the first half.
charles looked like the best running back on the field though between him and matthews by far. he had 8 less carries and more rushing yards
First, it appeared to me that he only got two fourth quarter carries because he knocked the ball out of Rivers' hands early in the 4th quarter. I recall him being pulled immediately after that and not getting back on the field. FWIW, I think the most encouraging sign for Mathews is that Sproles looked pretty bad. If Sproles continues to play like he did then some (not all, but some) of those third down plays will go to Mathews. My biggest worry for Mathews is that TD opps may be limited. He doesn't appear to have break-away speed so he won't be running many in from 20+ yards away...and when they get around the gaol-line they won't be afraid to use Gates/Floyd on passes and given how Tolbert runs I could definitely see Tolbert being the short-yardage battering ram. I'm officially lowering my expectations to 1200 yards, 25 catches, 7 TDs (basically RB15).the rover said:
Same here. He ran with energy and looked good to me. Chiefs were extremely well coached and had the game plan on the defense to shut him down, from what I saw. I wouldn't trade him in just yet.
He's a rookie and they were behind early, not really too surprising that the veteran 3rd down back Sproles would be in there.
I'm a man that believes you should forget college, almost entirely. So being that Matty is a rookie, I don't have anything else to go on. You're asking us to forget the only professional NFL game the guy has ever played in.
I didn't see that at all. I consistently saw him picking up 2-3 yards per tote. In fact his YPC would agree. He averaged 3.9 at the end of the game, including the 11-12 yard run where he fumbled. The positive spin is that he never fell backwards and I don't ever remember him being tackled for a loss. Though it was late (east coast) and I was tired...
I'm not sure how you can say that Tolbert looked better, when he only got 2 carries. Yes they were for bigger gains but it's way too small a sample size. The only goal line stand I witnessed (i fell asleep when the chargers still only had 7 pts) they gave matthews the rock just before passing it to Gates.-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=All in all Matthews looked pretty decent for me. I came away satisfied at his ability and situation. I don't think he will be the most explosive back ever, and KC did an excellent job keeping everyone in check last night (so did the weather, mind you). Regardless, the SD situation is a good one for him. They will continuously feed him the rock so long as he doesn't prove to have fumblitis and keeps falling forward. SD is a passing team and so long as they can get ~4.0 yds per carry they'll be happy. The one defining factor will be his goal line ability, which i think is still undetermined. LT was mediocre running the ball last year (regardless if you blame him, the oline, playcalling, whatev's) but still managed to find time for 12 scores. If Matthews is good at the stripe he will get his too.
A rookie isn't going to have the weight dropped on him in his first ever NFL season.... I'm sure he gets more as the season goes on.
I agree. I just thought it was an incorrect call not holding this (or any) game against him. We should take all games into consideration regardless of weather, opponent, grass/turf, coach...
pl let me rephrase that...dont let what you saw on MN be the game in which you gauge Mathews as a RB from here on out...is that better ?
I know it will probably rile up the Norv Turner defense council, but I blame the coaching in large part for the late game absence. One minute to go, first and goal from the 3, two time outs remaining. What's the strategy? No direct power rushing attempt. The predictable, pathetic draw play to Sproles that ended in a three yard loss. The final two plays looked like they were stolen from elementary school recess. I'm not a fan of just sending Mathews up the gut four times, but having him in the game and utilizing a short yardage set for at least two of the plays could have given the Chargers a far more diverse set of options for scoring the tying TD. First and second down could have been a play-action pass to Gates or Floyd with the other down being a direct run by Mathews.My guess is that Norv didn't want to put a rookie in at the goal line when he had basically not played the entire fourth quarter. Might make sense... of course, exactly who is at fault for not getting him a snap or two in the fourth quarter? Oh, yeah, that would be the coaches. There's no rule saying Sproles has to be in for EVERY play out of a 3rd down/two-minute offensive set.Maybe I'm taking a cheap shot at Norv, but I was dumbstruck that there was not even ONE effort at power football once they had first and goal at the 3 with over a minute left and two time outs in hand. For the many who defend Norv as getting a bum rap... these are the games -- and the decisions -- that do it.the rover said:
This. I got so high on Mathews that I was fully intending to draft him at 1.11. Then I saw the last 3 or 4 series in week 3 of preseason. Although Mathews still fought for positive yards, bounced off tackles etc he was mauled at the line. I would've drafted Mathews, but not that line. They are built to pass now. And I agree with others - Sproles will eat into meaningful 3rd down carries, especially around the goal line. They'd rather throw to Gates anyway. I do think he's special though...
In one league I drank the XM radio Koolaid and drafted him as my RB 1. After seeing Tolbert ,Hester and Sproles in at RB steady towards the end of the game I'm thinking it was a huge mistake.
Why on earth would San Diego throw a lot?Same head coach as last year. Same OC as last year. Same QB as last year. Worse WRs than last year. Better RBs than last year. Down a pass-blocking LT. Last year they were in the bottom 10 in pass attempts, so why on earth would anyone expect them to rise significantly after every major move they made in the offseason either improved the running game or weakened the passing game?SD threw a lot last week because they were losing by multiple scores. Unless they get down big again, I don't expect San Diego to throw much this season.
A little bit disturbing to see San Diego giving Sproles goal-line work, though. I thought they'd learned their lesson after last season.
A big reason why they had relatively few pass attempts was that they had relatively few offensive plays. Another big reason was that they were ahead a lot in most games.After controlling for both of those factors, I have the Chargers as the third-most pass-heavy team of 2009, after only the Cardinals and Colts.Here's my list from most-pass-heavy to least-pass-heavy (after controlling for margin of lead/deficit).crdcltsdgphignbsfohtxchiseadetnordalramminnweatlpitdenwasravnygkanraijaxtammiabufcinoticarnyjcle(The team designations are from p-f-r, so oti = Titans . . . I think the others are mostly self-evident.)The Chargers are actually the team that changed its run-pass ratio most dramatically depending on their margin of lead/deficit (with Cleveland second). So if you think the Chargers will be ahead a lot again this year, you can expect them to run quite a bit. But when they are not ahead, they are a very pass-oriented team.
