Whats Wrong With Clay Matthews?

Yeah. And why hasn't BJ Raji intercepted another football for a touch down?
What's wrong with him as well?
And why hasn't John Kuuuuuuuhn scored any touchdowns?
Or Donald Driver for that matter either?
Something must be wrong with those guys too.

Geez, we've won 3 games, last 9 games total.
What the heck is wrong with the Packers?

well Kuhn isnt being used as a primary runner, driver is playing as well as you would expect for a 36 yr old WR, and Raji is a D lineman so not a ton of opportunities for INTs. None of these guy have the drop off clay has from last season so far in their respective roles. I wish people would be open to the discussion instead of so negative at the thought it might be him. Like I said before, reminds me of the favre excuses we all had for so many years.

Let's trade him. He is a worthless part of our team. I think we should replace him with Jarret Bush.

I'm gonna bow out of the Nagler discussion, because I don't want to spend time combing through web bites to find suitable ones for the argument. I think the guy is fine, but like you I really don't have a horse in that race either, so we can leave it at that.

I guess, what I'm really reacting to is the "what's wrong with so-and-so" attitude after three regular season games. A bad game or two doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong with the guy. I guess I'm just a much more "wait and see" kind of guy.

It's just the attention he's getting now. The sacks will come. Be happy he isn't Casey Matthews.

according to the Packers Matthews was double teamed on 44% of drop backs. Or was singled up 66% of drop back if you want to look at it that way against the bears.

I just expected him to start sending guys to the bench after he repeatedly beats them and that hasnt happened. I would guess his hammy as well.

He's definitely impacting the game. He's in the backfield and hitting the quarterback all the time. He is definitely getting more attention and double teams though, thats for sure. He will still be a pro bowler.

He's getting double teamed every game, look at how the Saints managed to stop him.
Look, Clay is a big boulder in this defense, but you can't expect him to be everywhere and all over the place every game. He's been shut down from double teaming, and so on. He will get it together, don't forget we are coming off of a Super Bowl win and we got a target on our back. EVERYONE wants to take out the defending Super Bowl champions, hell look at how hard Carolina tried to beat us!

I have no problem criticizing anyone associated with the Packers organization from the front office to coaching staff to the players - IMO that's part of being an informed and engaged fan(atic), even if the team is 3-0.

Regarding Clay a couple of things: Of course I have no idea if he is using any PEDs but what I do know is he has had a quad injury and I know the Packers keep injury information as "close to the vest" as they can. Also last year Clay had 6 sacks after the first two games, and "only" finished with 13.5 for the season - just 7.5 more in the other 13 regular season games he played (a little more than one-half a sack/game), so perhaps whatever is wrong with him happened last year after game two? j/k

One thing I do disagree on is this: the quickness required to get to the QB is the same quickness that is required to blow up running plays in the offensive backfield as Clay did to Forte. My guess is the quad injury, the tentative rush vs. Newton to control his running, and teams paying particular attention to where Clay is before every play contribute to the perception something is wrong with him.

After every game, Bob McGinn rates the Packers by position. Here is what McGinn has had to say about Matthews: Versus the Saints: McGinn relates what we already knew: Matthews had the first hard contact on Ingram at the goal line on the Saints last play. Matthews was single-blocked 23 times, double-teamed 13 times, ran stunts 6 times, and dropped into coverage 9 times. He tried to help Walden, who struggled covering TE Graham, and he had four pressures including two knockdowns.

At Carolina: The Panther's OC, "had no intentions of letting Matthews control the game against Bell. The Panthers double-teamed him on 48% of his individual rushes and limited him to three pressures. Give Bell some credit. He stayed down when Matthews tried spin moves against him." McGinn doesn't mention it but I will reiterate that it looked to me like the Packers were not "all out" rushing Newton as they would a less mobile QB.

At Chicago: McGinn says Matthews had one of his best games, registering four hurries, 3.5 knockdowns and 2.5 tackles for loss. He says Clay did about equal damage against Omiyale and Spencer. He got double-teamed on 44% of passing plays. "Despite exerting far more energy because of the nature of his position, Matthews tends to wear out blockers in the fourth quarter. On a pair of aborted counter plays, Matthews shot across the line and beat the pulling guard (Williams) to the punch, which probably demoralized Forte and coordinator Mike Martz." So according to McGinn, Matthews in three games has one sack, 11 pressures and 5.5 knockdowns.

It may surprise some fans that Matthews isn't doubled or triple teamed every passing play, but no pass rusher is - that is too predictable for the NFL. But there's little doubt Matthews has been studied by every OC, OL coach, and OL the Packers will face this season and opponents know where he is lined up every play.

That's just not true Frank.

Is he getting double teamed a lot? Yes, 44% of last game, according to McGinn.

And is Matthews still impacting the game? He still got 2 1/2 tackles for loss and 4 hurries.

But against Omyale, he should be getting more than that. He HAD the opportunity to get more than that. He USED TO get more than that against those subpar OTs. He used to force them to being benched with his dominance.

Clay Matthews is NOT winning most of his 1-on-1s in the passing game.

Would he benefit from MORE 1-on-1s? ABSOLUTELY.

But he's getting them. And he's not winning them. And he used to. And not because of Jenkins.

Mind you, noone is saying Matthews isn't playing well. He's playing very well. He's playing like Aaron Kampman did in his glory years. And he's playing much better against the run.

Very well, "Kampman-like", is not good enough for what we've seen of CM3.

It's not HGH, or lack off:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/foot...56/1?AID=4992781&PID=4166869&SID=hdesuc6opnf1

If he's getting a one on one in the first place it's likely that the play is away from him and a quick out. Our guys are getting sacks and stopping the run because of him. If the Coordinators are using extra players on him they are losing out somewhere else. I am also wondering if Capers is keeping him on the leash a bit for containment. We have been playing alot of nickle against some mobile QB's these first 3 weeks.

There is nothing wrong with Clay. He is getting doubled most of the time. Or at the very least he gets chipped by a TE or RB on just about every play. He may not have had any sacks against the Bears but he created a lot of havoc.

I wonder why Capers doesn't move him around the line once in a while. This might take some of the double team pressure off of him if the offense doesn't know where he will line up on every play.

Q: Scott - SoCal | Hey Tyler - amazing effort by Clay Matthews today. He just brought it play after play. The opposite side OLB was pretty invisible again on the pass rush. Any chance we start seeing a bit of So'Oto?

A: Not sure if Matthews was necessarily amazing. He was solid against the run and certainly forced some plays into the middle but he was a nonfactor rushing the passer. Frank Omiyale, Gabe Carimi's replacement, really kept Matthews at bay. Even though he's getting doubled a lot this season, Matthews should have more than one sack.

From the js chat

ESPN's Kevin Siefert NFC North Blog

2. Jarius Wynn, Green Bay Packers defensive tackle: How many of you had Wynn as the Packers' leading pass-rusher after three weeks? I wouldn't have guessed it. Wynn had his way with the Bears' offensive line last Sunday and now has three sacks on the season. The only other Packers player with more than one sack is cornerback Jarrett Bush (1.5). Much as C.J. Wilson did last year, Wynn is taking advantage of Mike Neal's latest injury to establish a permanent role. I can't say I spent a lot of time studying Wynn during the preseason, but on Sunday, he appeared powerful and aggressive and fully capable of capitalizing on attention paid to linebacker Clay Matthews. (And before you ask, the answer is "no." I don't think anyone should have concerns about Matthews' total of one sack this season. I feel like he's still affecting games, especially in Week 2 against the Carolina Panthers. And Sunday, all three of his tackles were behind the line of scrimmage.)

Question and Answer with Vic Ketchman on Packers .com

When do you think Clay Matthews will finally get a sack or two? By this time last year he had six. Do you think his recent injuries have slowed him down a little bit? I'm a bit worried.
When you have the kind of season Matthews had last year, every team on your schedule schemes to stop you. That’s what you’re seeing. He’s getting a lot of attention. He’s got tackles and tight ends double-teaming him, backs chipping him, backs occupying him in pass-coverage. What it’s doing is it’s freeing up other players to make plays, especially against the run. Stats will lie to you if you don’t dig deeper for the truth.

Must be the new math. 44 + 66 = 110. Or is it 120? I think maybe he's missing that guy ( the one the Packers didn't re-sign)on the other end of the line more than the Packers thought he would be.

That only says exactly what I'm saying. He's playing the run much better.

And he gives NO explanation why he isn't concerned with the sack totals.

And, BTW, I'm not concerned with sack totals. I'm concerned Matthews isn't winning one-on-ones regularly.

And, again, NOBODY has been able to argue that Matthews is winning one-on-ones regularly.

I don't think Matthews lost it, that would be just ignorant. Magical explanations are for children.

But it has not been there for the first 3 games. Against Cam, I can understand, he was playing with contain principles. But against NO and CHI, against AWFUL offensive tackles, he did not win 1-on-1s constantly.

That is absolutely moronic. The guy knows nothing about football and offered just a generical explanation.

That's your opinion. There are different ones on Matthews play so far this season. Moronic?

You are correct. 56. Thanks for catching that.

vic has said nothing to impress me or to show he knows this team well.