Jake Matthews vs Michael Bennett / Frank Clark

[Followthelegion]

Taking a more detailed look at Atlanta's recent games and my attention was caught by their left tackle Jake Matthews.

Coming off a knee injury, he has struggled against bull rushers (Joey Bosa for SD) and speed off the edge (Panthers edge rushers). He gave up many pressures against Carolina despite ditching the knee brace, in particular Addison beat him on the inside on multiple snaps (it looked to me that he was just lined up with his hip angle far too wide) and despiteseemingly returning to full health. Paul Kruger had some success for the Saints in the week 17 matchup too.

Any Falcons fans think his struggles late in the year are injury related or technique?

Bennett holds a grudge for the hit that sidelined him for 5 games in the matchup earlier this year, so this matchup could be really tasty.

Seattle has to get pressure on Ryan, and it would appear Ryan will have heat coming from both sides.

 

[2_0_6]

Atlanta fans have not had a taste of Mr. Frank Clark.

He's more disruptive than a lady in a mini skirt walking through church.

 

[gowazzu02]

Will be interesting to see how often Mike B gets a shot. As has been pointed out in a couple threads recently. Since Bennetts returned the go to rush formation has been Marsh out wide vs the LT, then a combo of Bennett/Clark inside and Cliff out wide vs rt.

Alot of times having bennett and clark lined up closer to the right side almost over loading it. Im sure theres some linebacker coverage the other way to keep it honest but it seems the strategy i sto over load the offenses right side.

 

[RussB]

Doesnt matter how good a left tackle is. Frank Clark and mike B can trouble anyone. Guys like that cant be blocked you just have to get the ball out before they get to you. Eventually they will break free unless double teamed.

 

[FalconsFanNW]

Any Falcons fans think his struggles late in the year are injury related or technique?

The former.

Jake Matthews

The third-year left tackle suffered a knee injury against Kansas City. Despite not returning in that game, he managed to play the following week versus Los Angeles. His performances have declined over the past few weeks. It wasn’t surprising to see him look stiff against the Rams, given that Matthews played with a heavy brace, which affected his movement. San Francisco didn’t have anything to offer up front in the next game. Matthews was removed from the injury report heading into Carolina. All indications pointed towards a successful recovery.

Matthews was a disaster in pass protection against the Panthers. Mario Addison gave him fits on inside moves. Wes Horton and Kony Ealy had their moments as well. Matt Ryan’s outstanding pocket presence saved him from allowing more than two sacks. When Matthews struggles, it will come against power rushers. Joey Bosa’s bull rush overwhelmed him on several occasions. It was his worst performance of the season, before Carolina’s array of edge rushers found great success on the right side.

To see Addison beat him without bull rushing repeatedly was most concerning. Matthews is known for having excellent footwork. Analysts rave about his ability as a technician. He kept anticipating Addison bending or using an outside move, which left him vulnerable inside. It’s rare to see the usually reliable tackle take poor angles. Good left tackles shouldn’t be left on the ground against decent pass rushers. Paul Kruger managed to beat Matthews a few times in the season finale.

Chris Chester is known for being the offensive line’s weakest link, yet he wasn’t the only problem over the past two weeks. For all of Seattle’s issues, they still possess one of the best defensive lines in the league. Ryan Schraeder will likely battle Cliff Avril for the majority of the game. That will leave Matthews against a combination of Michael Bennett and Frank Clark. This is going to be a huge test, especially after Bennett vented about Matthews’ cut block in their previous matchup. It caused the Pro Bowl defensive lineman to miss five games.

Ryan should find success against a secondary without their most valuable player. Matthews will need to play much better for this offense to continue scoring over 30 points a game against better opposition, which is a requirement for them to reach the Super Bowl. They’ve scored under 30 points in five games this season and only defeated the Broncos.

 

[ApnaHawk]

This is one thing that seems to be very overlooked. We are so deep at the line again. This is a better pass rush line then the one we had during our superbowl run. Much better. We have the best pass rush left in the playoffs and that's very dangerous!

 

[Largent80]

Dude does a dirty shot to Bennett's knee then gets his injured...Instant Karma, but we're not done with payback yet.

 

[4DaBirds]

Taking a more detailed look at Atlanta's recent games and my attention was caught by their left tackle Jake Matthews.

Coming off a knee injury, he has struggled against bull rushers (Joey Bosa for SD) and speed off the edge (Panthers edge rushers). He gave up many pressures against Carolina despite ditching the knee brace, in particular Addison beat him on the inside on multiple snaps (it looked to me that he was just lined up with his hip angle far too wide) and despiteseemingly returning to full health. Paul Kruger had some success for the Saints in the week 17 matchup too.

Any Falcons fans think his struggles late in the year are injury related or technique?

Bennett holds a grudge for the hit that sidelined him for 5 games in the matchup earlier this year, so this matchup could be really tasty.

Seattle has to get pressure on Ryan, and it would appear Ryan will have heat coming from both sides.

Jake Matthews always has an injury of some sort going on, but he does manage to stay on the field. He'll be solid for long stretches, but now and then he is faced with a tough matchup that doesn't go his way, and he has his share of pre-snap penalties. Matthews usually grades out well, so I think his technique is good, but his knee not so much. The Falcon OL is a bright spot for them this year, even though Ryan has taken a lot sacks. Alex Mack, Schraeder, and LeVitre usually get good grades too, while Chester is below average IMO. The Falcons needed that bye in the worst way.

 

[ivotuk]

Excellent post. If that's quoted, could you please link it?

And just an FYI, we can't allow complete articles to be posted, just excerpts. But this stuff.

Ray

Any Falcons fans think his struggles late in the year are injury related or technique?

The former.

Jake Matthews

The third-year left tackle suffered a knee injury against Kansas City. Despite not returning in that game, he managed to play the following week versus Los Angeles. His performances have declined over the past few weeks. It wasn’t surprising to see him look stiff against the Rams, given that Matthews played with a heavy brace, which affected his movement. San Francisco didn’t have anything to offer up front in the next game. Matthews was removed from the injury report heading into Carolina. All indications pointed towards a successful recovery.

Matthews was a disaster in pass protection against the Panthers. Mario Addison gave him fits on inside moves. Wes Horton and Kony Ealy had their moments as well. Matt Ryan’s outstanding pocket presence saved him from allowing more than two sacks. When Matthews struggles, it will come against power rushers. Joey Bosa’s bull rush overwhelmed him on several occasions. It was his worst performance of the season, before Carolina’s array of edge rushers found great success on the right side.

To see Addison beat him without bull rushing repeatedly was most concerning. Matthews is known for having excellent footwork. Analysts rave about his ability as a technician. He kept anticipating Addison bending or using an outside move, which left him vulnerable inside. It’s rare to see the usually reliable tackle take poor angles. Good left tackles shouldn’t be left on the ground against decent pass rushers. Paul Kruger managed to beat Matthews a few times in the season finale.

Chris Chester is known for being the offensive line’s weakest link, yet he wasn’t the only problem over the past two weeks. For all of Seattle’s issues, they still possess one of the best defensive lines in the league. Ryan Schraeder will likely battle Cliff Avril for the majority of the game. That will leave Matthews against a combination of Michael Bennett and Frank Clark. This is going to be a huge test, especially after Bennett vented about Matthews’ cut block in their previous matchup. It caused the Pro Bowl defensive lineman to miss five games.

Ryan should find success against a secondary without their most valuable player. Matthews will need to play much better for this offense to continue scoring over 30 points a game against better opposition, which is a requirement for them to reach the Super Bowl. They’ve scored under 30 points in five games this season and only defeated the Broncos.

 

[FalconsFanNW]

Excellent post. If that's quoted, could you please link it?

And just an FYI, we can't allow complete articles to be posted, just excerpts. But this stuff.

Ray

Yeah I just posted the excerpt that I thought was relevant... but here's the link.

http://www.thefalcoholic.com/2017/1/10/ ... r-bowl-run

... and thanks! I know a lot of people here think I'm somewhat trollish in nature but I really do try to have constructive football conversations. :mrgreen:

 

[Sox-n-Hawks]

Excellent post. If that's quoted, could you please link it?

And just an FYI, we can't allow complete articles to be posted, just excerpts. But this stuff.

Ray

Yeah I just posted the excerpt that I thought was relevant... but here's the link.

http://www.thefalcoholic.com/2017/1/10/ ... r-bowl-run

... and thanks! I know a lot of people here think I'm somewhat trollish in nature but I really do try to have constructive football conversations. :mrgreen:

Great contribution!

 

[SkerBird8710]

Atlanta fans have not had a taste of Mr. Frank Clark.

He's more disruptive than a lady in a mini skirt walking through church.

Should be a great game, y'all get Clark, Bennett and chance back and we get our two starting LB's and Slot Wr who all were already injured or got injured early in the game.

We played you using a 2nd string SS and. 3rd string LB as our starting backers last game. I think the speed of Jones and Campbell will cause a lot more issues than people think. Both are athletic enough to keep up with Jimmy. You don't have 2 pick 6's as a LB with out some athleticism

Good luck to y'all Sunday!

 

[SkerBird8710]

Dude does a dirty shot to Bennett's knee then gets his injured...Instant Karma, but we're not done with payback yet.

Bennett got cut because he repeatedly hit ryan well after the ball was out of his hands and the refs turned a blind eye. I doubt you'll agree with me but that's part of being a fan. I doubt either your Dline or our oline has forgot either situation. It'll be a dogfight in the trenches no doubt. I'd expect to see us run a lot of 13 personnel chipping Bennett with a TE or RB to help Jake if the knee is still weak.

 

[Ethanga62890]

Dude does a dirty shot to Bennett's knee then gets his injured...Instant Karma, but we're not done with payback yet.

Legal block

 

[EverydayImRusselin]

Dude does a dirty shot to Bennett's knee then gets his injured...Instant Karma, but we're not done with payback yet.

Bennett got cut because he repeatedly hit ryan well after the ball was out of his hands and the refs turned a blind eye. I doubt you'll agree with me but that's part of being a fan. I doubt either your Dline or our oline has forgot either situation. It'll be a dogfight in the trenches no doubt. I'd expect to see us run a lot of 13 personnel chipping Bennett with a TE or RB to help Jake if the knee is still weak.

Generally Bennett will be lining up inside. He plays some DE and in passing situations most frequently it's Avril and Marsh at DE and Bennett and Clark at DT.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Legal block my fatt butt. He flat out went at his knee.

 

[Sealake80]

The Falcaholics Lol. Niiiiiiiice!

I know for a fact our entire D line is licking their chops. Sweet dreams Falcons fans! They will get you through the long off season... starting tomorrow!

 

[hawknation2017]

Excellent topic. This may be the greatest mismatch of the game. We need Bennett to dominate the line of scrimmage. He could help turn the tide.

Frank Clark had EIGHT QB hurries last week alone. :shock:

 

[King Dog]

Excellent topic. This may be the greatest mismatch of the game. We need Bennett to dominate the line of scrimmage. He could help turn the tide.

I just saw that Frank Clark alone had EIGHT QB hurries in Week 6 vs. Atlanta. :shock:

That would be something considering he didn't play

 

[hawknation2017]

Excellent topic. This may be the greatest mismatch of the game. We need Bennett to dominate the line of scrimmage. He could help turn the tide.

I just saw that Frank Clark alone had EIGHT QB hurries in Week 6 vs. Atlanta. :shock:

That would be something considering he didn't play

Thank you for the correction. Clark's eight pressures actually came this last weekend. :2thumbs: