Is Chris Matthews the Real Deal?

[theincrediblesok]

Pretty much the same thought i had Hawks46 but you stated it way better

 

[Largent80]

In the SB, it's almost like Pete was rubbing the magic lantern and he appeared.

When they put Browner on him, he disappeared.......Poof.

He is still in development, but that HAD to be a boost to his mental side of it.

 

[jlwaters1]

I'd put money on Norwood being a bigger factor than Matthews this year. I think Norwood is going to have breakout year.

 

[BlueBlood]

Malcom Smith had a great SuperBowl wouldnt you say? Anyone care to look up his snap count and satistics? Ill save you the pain, worse than Aaron Curry. Matthews is a big dude who appeared to catch with his hand and position himself pretty well but there has to be a reason he wasnt getting run during the regular season wouldnt you think? Need a bigger sample size and after all, the coaches see him everyday in practice. Id think if he dominated in practice the way he did in the Super Bowl that hed declared the next best thing by now. He looked amazing, I loved what I saw but Im really not sure what to think.

 

[razor150]

Any receiver that's the proverbial "real deal" would've burned Brandon Browner all day long, not gotten shut down by him.

I am not saying Mathews is the real deal, but what you said is just silly. The common refrain of Browner shutting him down really isn't true, because Mathews didn't play that many snaps and he did catch one against Browner. The only question that makes any real sense is that if Mathews is so good why didn't he play more?

However, he did show something that he can hopefully build on. The game he had is certainly a confidence builder, and if he is willing to put in the work Pete will definitely give him a shot.

 

[netskier]

I agree with Largent80's guess that Pete was saving Matthews as a secret weapon.

I expect both him and Norwood to have breakout years provided that they are deployed with Jimmy. Baldwin too to the extent they deploy JG outside the slot.

 

[theincrediblesok]

Malcom Smith had a great SuperBowl wouldnt you say? Anyone care to look up his snap count and satistics? Ill save you the pain, worse than Aaron Curry. Matthews is a big dude who appeared to catch with his hand and position himself pretty well but there has to be a reason he wasnt getting run during the regular season wouldnt you think? Need a bigger sample size and after all, the coaches see him everyday in practice. Id think if he dominated in practice the way he did in the Super Bowl that hed declared the next best thing by now. He looked amazing, I loved what I saw but Im really not sure what to think.

Well if the coaches knew Richard Sherman and Maxwell were so good how come they didn't supplant the starters until those starters were injured for them to even get a chance to play. Tate wasn't good the first year but when he did get more time to play he looked great now he's doing good in Detroit, and the only reason he got a chance to play was cause of the injury to Sidney. I get the whole practice thing, but what about someone who plays better when it's an actual game.

Malcom Smith I knew was going to be gone after being the MVP of the superbowl, and I think the FO knew that too, last year was his last contract year, and they rather give snaps to guys who will actually be with the team in the future.

All i'm saying is don't look too much in practice, heck even Wilson threw multiple INT in practices but we don't put too much thought in that.

At the same time we also have to think what happened to Norwood was he in the dog house, and why did Chris Matthews moved up from practice squad to 53, if Norwood should have beaten him out. Pete Carroll mentioned that guys get suited due to the matchups. I'm looking forward for all our WRs to start contributing small or large I think we will finally have an offense that would match well against our defense.

 

[LickMyNuts]

He could be Plaxico Burress, depends on his ability to box out corners and find open field in the Red Zone. There are worse things than having tall receivers who can jump and catch the ball.

If he does turn out to be a Red Zone threat it will take some of the pressure of JG on the other side.

 

[swagcity21]

The reality is nobody knows but if imagine he will certainly have the option to prove himself in training camp and hopefully turn into a real threat on the field.

I think having one good game in the Super Bowl isn't enough, guys can have one off good games however Id certainly love to see him develop into pro bowl calibre!

I sure hope he is, I rooted for him after he signed with us last off season. Seeing his tape from the CFL and Kentucky I was hoping for another diamond in the rough from JS.

I agree that part of his success in the super bowl was the patriots not knowing anything about him, however, he still had to go out there and perform at level that would make him successful.

Secondly, While he came in as a relative unknown and could not separate himself from the pack in training camp I feel now, with his super bowl success the coaches will be looking at him a little more and push him harder than last year to see if he can be the big body threat we need.

 

[ImTheScientist]

I'd put money on Norwood being a bigger factor than Matthews this year. I think Norwood is going to have breakout year.

Based on?

 

[SnoCoHawk]

Hey, he caught that onside kick in the NFCCG, too...so he wasn't *completely* invisible before the Super Bowl. Plus he was rookie of the year or something in the CFL. I think he has great potential.

 

[theincrediblesok]

Oh and don't forget he also played in Special Teams.

 

[King Dog]

I don't know how good he's going to be, but I do know there's only one Browner in the league. Seemed like the perfect matchup for Browner.

 

[timmat]

Matthews' catch radius is crazy. Look at how high above the defender he is on that SB catch. If he and Russell can get on the same page, Matthews doesn't need to be wide open to be effective. RW throws the best touch jump ball in football. Matthews earned at least a very hard look with his SB performance. And I mean game looks. A guy like Matthews won't have his skill set translate as well in practice. I hope he works hard and they give him a shot in the regular season. He could be a huge asset when RW is running for his life and needs to put the ball up.

 

[GeekHawk]

It's pretty obvious to me that he isn't the real deal unless he demands double teams. I read that somewhere.

 

[SnoCoHawk]

It's pretty obvious to me that he isn't the real deal unless he demands double teams. I read that somewhere.

Does Browner at least count as one-and-a-half coverage?

 

[jlwaters1]

I'd put money on Norwood being a bigger factor than Matthews this year. I think Norwood is going to have breakout year.

Based on?

Not based on anything. I think Norwood's more talented. I think he's being overlooked.

 

[SoCalSeahawk]

IMHO, Matthews and Graham are two entirely unrelated items, so I don't see where signing Graham has anything to do with CM being the "real deal." I'm not going to say CM is a pro-bowler, but I'm also far from writing the kid off. If Pete thought he was done, he'd be gone. He's still on the roster, so I'll take that to mean that he is developing in a way that Pete thinks he might be useful in the future. Hell, I don't even know if he'll survive training camp, but there is a good bet he'll be there working to win a roster spot. That's about all anybody can say right now.

A voice of reason.

 

[drdiags]

I found it of interest that John Schneider mentioned after the SB that the coaches had been telling Matthews all year to play bigger (I gather during practice). Maybe Chris Matthews can use the SB as a spring board but I don't think he becomes a key cog next year. Look how long it took before Kearse started getting time after coming in as a UDFA.

Chris needs to keep working on those items the coaches pointed out. Lockette thought he had made it after his rookie year only to end up getting the boot and doing the tour of the league before coming back here with a different attitude (well, except for not making that one catch that one time in some big game ...).

 

[HawKnPeppa]

95% chance he is not.

95.4%