Green Bay Packers: Clay Matthews Has Rest of NFL on Notice

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Chicago Bears left tackle J’Marcus Webb couldn’t stop Matthews Thursday night. It was a mauling. Matthews got to the Bears quarterback Jay Cutler 3.5 times on the night, over half of his sack total for ALL of 2011.

“I thought these guys did a good job today as far as getting after the quarterback,” Matthew said following Green Bay’s 23-10 victory. “It comes down to individual match-ups sometimes and we were able to exploit that.”

Certainly, that kind of match-up won’t be there all season, Matthews and the Packers will go up against tougher offensives lines. But Matthews put the league on notice – expect more teams to be prepared. It will be interesting to see if he can keep up the pace and get close to the NFL record of 22.5 sacks, set my Michael Strahan in 2001?

Matthews and the rest of the Green Bay defense had an embarrassing 2011 season, despite being among the NFL’s best in turnover margin. While Matthews had a career-high three interceptions, he had career lows in tackles (50) and sacks (6), after totaling 23.5 sacks his first two seasons in the league.

Green Bay upgraded its front seven in the draft, selecting Nick Perry and Jerel Worthy with their first two picks. Worthy, in his very small sample size, has shown he can be a big pass-rush problem for offensive lines, allowing players like Matthews to run free on the outside. B.J. Raji has also stepped his game up so far in 2012, something that held Matthews and the Packers back last year.

Matthews has never really been that Ray Lewis-type linebacker during his three seasons in the NFL. He isn’t in the middle of the defense, rarely getting his hand in on every tackles. He has averaged just over 53 tackles per season, a modest total compared to Brian Urlacher or even Terrell Suggs. But he provides that scary LT factor – he completely alters the way a team must prepare for the week.

Matthews’ combination of speed and strength make him a match-up nightmare, evidenced by Webb. With teams like Seattle, Indianapolis and Jacksonville on the schedule, Matthews could have a few more feasts left in him – not to mention big, prime time games with Detroit, New York and Houston.

We saw quarterbacks have an unbelievable year in 2011, which also saw Demarcus Ware and Jared Allen finish with 19.5 and 22 sacks, respectively. It’s hard to fathom QBs having such success two seasons in a row – can Matthews capitalize?

Related stories:

Chicago Bears: One Man’s Guide to Understanding Jay Cutler

San Diego Chargers: Ryan Mathews Likely to Miss Titans Game, but He’ll be One Week Closer to Returning

2012-09-16 05:49:26

Source: http://www.nationalfootballauthority.com/2012/09/green-bay-packers-clay-matthews-has.html