I’ve been mulling over the idea of moving Matthews to inside linebacker. I thought it was a smart move against the Bears. It gave the Packers the element of surprise and played a big part in the Pack getting off to a fast start… or, at least, keeping the Bears from getting a fast start of their own.
I loved the addition of some serious speed to the middle linebacker position. Clay can cover a ton of ground really fast. Even as an edge rusher he often runs down running plays from behind. Put him in the middle of the field and there is no place on the field that’s safe.
Did it work?
I think anyone would be hard-pressed to say it didn’t work. In all the games between the first meeting with Bears and this second meeting of the season, Clay made a single tackle in each game. In the first meeting against the Bears he didn’t make a single tackle, though he did contribute an assist. Against the Bears on Sunday night Matthews had 9 tackles… 9! Yeah, I’d say it worked.
Are the Packers losing an essential edge rush by not having Clay on the outside? Well, probably, but in those same games between the first and second meetings with the Bears Matthews only registered a single sack. So, we might not be taking as much of a step back in that department as one might think.
Will this be a permanent position for Clay? Well, the Packers no longer have the element of surprise with the move. Let’s face it, the Eagles (and everyone else in the league) now know they have to account for Clay possibly being at ILB against them. On the other hand, we still have some semblance of the element of surprise at our disposal. After all, it’s more difficult for teams to prepare for the Packer defense now. They have to prepare for the fact that Matthews might be playing ILB, but they also have to scheme for the possibility that he isn’t.
I will say this. If Matthews continues to play middle linebacker, he’s going to get more comfortable with it every game, and the more comfortable Matthews gets, the more of a holy terror he will become for opposing offenses.
This is going to be hard for teams to figure out J.R. it is going to make OC nuts trying to game plan for him now, Before they knew Peppers and Matthews were going to be on each side rushing and teams schemed for it. With him in the middle and also slipping outside on some plays they will not know what plays to call to get away from him. I also think with the defense having Perry and Neal healthy they can afford to have him in the middle. I said early in the year when Brad Jones was well just being Brad Jones they should put Clay inside to stop the run. People said why would they put their best pass rusher inside? Well now they have their answer! He is fast and can cover lots of ground from ILB. Is it going to be the answer to the run game? All I can say it can’t hurt and this game coming up will really be a good test to see if the move sticks..I think it will myself.
I think Perry has played as well or better than Matthews at LOLB this year, and Perry is even better on the right side, but I can understand not wanting to move Peppers to the left. Hard to see where we’re losing anything with Matthews at ILB, when he hasn’t been a factor in most games this year.
Against the Bears Clay had 1 sack, but so did Peppers (from OLB), Burnett (from outside on S blitz), and Barrington (from ILB blitz). So pressure can come from anywhere on the field.
I think it’s long over due for Capers got creative with his cast on D. My son and I were discussing having Matthews at ILB last year (he didn’t start any game there but did play snaps at ILB and was effective). Then he hurt his thumb and wasn’t a factor for the rest of the season. Moving him for situations this year makes sense. We’re deep at OLB and thin at ILB. Go Pack go!
Twitter: GPN_JR
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I especially like your point about us being deep at OLB and thin at ILB. Very good point and reason enough to move Clay to ILB.
Was @ the game & immediately noticed Clay playing on the inside. I think it shows some creativity the Packer defense needed in the worst way. This hole in the defense is glaring & I like what they did & this makes other teams uncomfortable of what to prepare for when playing the Packers. I like Hawk & his leadership but he’s just too slow & getting caught up in the wash of blockers & can rarely get to the ball carrier not to mention covering TE or RB going out for a short pass.
Twitter: GPN_JR
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I love the creativity too. It’s hard adjust to a speed rusher coming from the middle.