Ryan Matthews demoted.....

[CornKobb 48]

Rotoworld..... Coach Norv Turner said in the presser he decided to go with Ronnie Brown in the game winning drive because he expected more out of Matthews. Quote: "Noone works harder, has a better attitude, and has more offensive ability on our team than Ryan" but we as an organization like what we have in our other running backs that are on the north side of 30 due to there experience.

 

Beat writer Kevin Acee says that Coach Turner had a plan to shorten the game and waste several series early with the highly talented Jackie Battle who averaged a nice 1.9 ypc tonight. Quote: "Battle has alot of IT" something you wouldnt understand and Ronnie is Solid.

 

There may be some explaining to do but Ryan Matthews can expect to continue to be in a Timeshare losing third down plays, the first 2-3 series of the first half, and goaline work until he straightens up his act an averages 20yds a carry.

 

Its time for Matthews to accept Norvs excellent play calling and somehow accept your confidence to dwindle since he is still playing High School spring training mind games.

[blagrange 2]

Rotoworld..... Coach Norv Turner said in the presser he decided to go with Ronnie Brown in the game winning drive because he expected more out of Matthews. Quote: "Noone works harder, has a better attitude, and has more offensive ability on our team than Ryan" but we as an organization like what we have in our other running backs that are on the north side of 30 due to there experience.

 

Beat writer Kevin Acee says that Coach Turner had a plan to shorten the game and waste several series early with the highly talented Jackie Battle who averaged a nice 1.9 ypc tonight. Quote: "Battle has alot of IT" something you wouldnt understand and Ronnie is Solid.

 

There may be some explaining to do but Ryan Matthews can expect to continue to be in a Timeshare losing third down plays, the first 2-3 series of the first half, and goaline work until he straightens up his act an averages 20yds a carry.

 

Its time for Matthews to accept Norvs excellent play calling and somehow accept your confidence to dwindle since he is still playing High School spring training mind games.

 

Lol

[uwmalcolm 73]

I can't tell...is this real? Nicely done

[Vyse 0]

It was too much of a risk to put him in the final drive....the Chargers didn't want to risk WINNING THE GAME!

[mobb_deep 917]

He probably pulled himself out. He has no heart.

 

Trade him for Drew Brees.

[IndyTom 0]

Maybe it was something along the lines of:

 

"Ryan was doing too well and starting to hurt the feelings of the other RBs so I pulled him in the name of fairness."

[CornKobb 48]

Maybe it was something along the lines of:

 

"Ryan was doing too well and starting to hurt the feelings of the other RBs so I pulled him in the name of fairness."

 

exactly....queerest coaching ever.

[cavern 70]

all the poor coaching you're speaking of took place in the weeks leading up tothe game, during practice, when ronnie brown was made the 3rd down back. clearly, their 3rd down package was required at game's end. you DO NOT suddenly change your personnel in that situation. now, what will be interesting is whether or not the chargers make a switch at the 3rd down rb spot, during practice, to get mathews on the field in those situations.

[IndyTom 0]

all the poor coaching you're speaking of took place in the weeks leading up tothe game, during practice, when ronnie brown was made the 3rd down back. clearly, their 3rd down package was required at game's end. you DO NOT suddenly change your personnel in that situation. now, what will be interesting is whether or not the chargers make a switch at the 3rd down rb spot, during practice, to get mathews on the field in those situations.

 

They were getting predictable. Ronnie = play action pass. Ryan = run the ball.

[cavern 70]

They were getting predictable. Ronnie = play action pass. Ryan = run the ball.

 

my point is that brown in the lineup in that situation was decided during the week. people here are acting like turner put him in at that point on a whim

[MedStudent 56]

my point is that brown in the lineup in that situation was decided during the week. people here are acting like turner put him in at that point on a whim

 

Whether he made the decision in practice or during the game. It was an odd move. Ryan Matthews has mad 3rd down skills. I can see taking away goal line carries to more of a brusing running back. But Matthews is a good receiver out of the backfill and getting him the ball in open space should be a no brainer. The only thing I can guess is that his pass protection is lacking but he looked pretty good in that department last night.

[cavern 70]

Whether he made the decision in practice or during the game. It was an odd move. Ryan Matthews has mad 3rd down skills. I can see taking away goal line carries to more of a brusing running back. But Matthews is a good receiver out of the backfill and getting him the ball in open space should be a no brainer. The only thing I can guess is that his pass protection is lacking but he looked pretty good in that department last night.

 

they're looking for different ways to ease him back in and keep him healthy limit his exposure to hits/etc. assigning someone else the 3rd down role makes sense in that vein. now, after brown struggled a bit and mathews looked good (and they lost)... will they make a switch?

[deefree93 0]

they're looking for different ways to ease him back in and keep him healthy limit his exposure to hits/etc. assigning someone else the 3rd down role makes sense in that vein. now, after brown struggled a bit and mathews looked good (and they lost)... will they make a switch?

 

per rotoworld:

 

Coach Norv Turner indicated that Ryan Mathews' weekly workloads will increase back to the full-time variety following Sunday's loss to New Orleans, saying "I expect him to be one of the league's leading rushers."

 

"Ryan was outstanding," Turner said following Mathews' 139-total yard, one-score effort, in which he was ultimately underutilized. "Everything I’ve said about him in the offseason, every time he’s had adversity, he’s come back stronger. People want to count him out or say, ‘Hey, you can’t count on this guy,’ but he’s come back stronger." The buy-low window on Mathews has officially closed.

[kmbryant09 1]

my point is that brown in the lineup in that situation was decided during the week. people here are acting like turner put him in at that point on a whim

Yes, and as we all know, coaches aren't allowed to make in-game adjustments

[GobbleDog 816]

Coach Norv Turner ..... People want to count him out or say, ‘Hey, you can’t count on this guy,’

 

Ironic coming from the guy who benched Mathews.

[Skinny_Bastard 154]

per rotoworld:

 

Coach Norv Turner indicated that Ryan Mathews' weekly workloads will increase back to the full-time variety following Sunday's loss to New Orleans, saying "I expect him to be one of the league's leading rushers."

 

"Ryan was outstanding," Turner said following Mathews' 139-total yard, one-score effort, in which he was ultimately underutilized. "Everything I’ve said about him in the offseason, every time he’s had adversity, he’s come back stronger. People want to count him out or say, ‘Hey, you can’t count on this guy,’ but he’s come back stronger." The buy-low window on Mathews has officially closed.

 

Turner got mental issues.

With the game on the line, the "OUTSTANDING" player wasn't featured in the final 2 series.

 

Yes, i heard the argument about how Ronny Brown runs the 3rd down package. Folks, Ryan Mathews have been in SD for 2+ years already. He's played on 3rd down packages many times before. This 3rd down package nonsense is pure fantasy fabricated by Turner supporters. Yesterday's SD lost was a total fock job by the head coach. The dude had 12 carries for 80 yards! His first 5 runs were all 9+ yards....

 

Against the WORST RUN D in the league and for most of the first 3 quarters, the SAINTS had no answers for Mathews. Only way to contain Mathews last night was to put him on the bench and that's exactly what Turner did.

[Maroon Bells 18]

I've been blaming Turner as much as anyone, but they've got a batsh*t crazy GM there. It could be he's the one dictating playing time. Ryan Mathews not only CAN play a 3rd down role, he's ideally suited for it. Good blocker, great out of the backfield.

[Skinny_Bastard 154]

I've been blaming Turner as much as anyone, but they've got a batsh*t crazy GM there. It could be he's the one dictating playing time. Ryan Mathews not only CAN play a 3rd down role, he's ideally suited for it. Good blocker, great out of the backfield.

 

+1

[cnasty 5]

At this point, it's hard to imagine Turner on the sideline in SD next year.

[WR Guru 31]

At this point, it's hard to imagine Turner on the sideline in SD next year.

 

I've been saying this for 2 or 3 years, yet somehow the guy just survives. Like a cockroach.

[Skinny_Bastard 154]

Just a tremendous talent.

 

Dude fly for 5 yards for last night's TD. Tested that shoulder.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/20504807/chargers-backup-rb-ryan-mathews-soars-through-the-air

 

If you watch this play, there was no lane but he had the vision and speed to bounce it to the outside. His athleticism on the finish was the reason why SD got a TD on that play.

 

Anyone that thinks Jackie Battle can do this is out of their mind.

[mickalopagus 0]

Just a tremendous talent.

 

Dude fly for 5 yards for last night's TD. Tested that shoulder.

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/20504807/chargers-backup-rb-ryan-mathews-soars-through-the-air

 

If you watch this play, there was no lane but he had the vision and speed to bounce it to the outside. His athleticism on the finish was the reason why SD got a TD on that play.

 

Anyone that thinks Jackie Battle can do this is out of their mind.

 

this was against the saints last night. shoon greene could run for 200 yards against the saints. it is no surprise that matthews would have his best game of the season against them. next week he will be around 60 yards again. I wouldnt be surprised if he coughs the ball up again as well, as he is nearing his 40 carries (1 fumble for every 40 carries for matthews). dont buy the hype people, this kid will ruin your FF team

[mickalopagus 0]

I've been blaming Turner as much as anyone, but they've got a batsh*t crazy GM there. It could be he's the one dictating playing time. Ryan Mathews not only CAN play a 3rd down role, he's ideally suited for it. Good blocker, great out of the backfield.

 

he is actually a subpar blocker. if you remember the past several seasons there have been blocks that matthews completely blew, leading to a qb sack. maybe he is better this year but I remember coaches saying last year that his snaps would be limited until he could pick up his blocking assignments as well as others in his rb committee

[CornKobb 48]

this was against the saints last night. shoon greene could run for 200 yards against the saints. it is no surprise that matthews would have his best game of the season against them. next week he will be around 60 yards again. I wouldnt be surprised if he coughs the ball up again as well, as he is nearing his 40 carries (1 fumble for every 40 carries for matthews). dont buy the hype people, this kid will ruin your FF team

 

please ignore this post. Hippopattamos has very little sense when it comes to the game of football. sorry dude but your comments are really stupid. cheers

[mickalopagus 0]

please ignore this post. Hippopattamos has very little sense when it comes to the game of football. sorry dude but your comments are really stupid. cheers

 

why do you say that?

[ian Potter 9]

please ignore this post. Hippopattamos has very little sense when it comes to the game of football. sorry dude but your comments are really stupid. cheers

 

Might have been against a terrible Def but Battle wasn't doing SHAT! Mathews looked like Usaine Bolt and Battle looked like the Refridgerator Perry! The two are light years apart. What I loved seeing was Mathews come across the line and jam the blitzing LB only to be pulled after the play. Chargers may have won the game had he played the whole 1st quarter. Possibly could have scored at the end just by running the ball with the yards he was averaging per carry. Norv looks like a complete IDIOT for not playing Mathews the whole game. If Mathews doesn't see 20+ carries a game from this point out Norv might be losing his job real quick!

[JT 137]

Yes, and as we all know, coaches aren't allowed to make in-game adjustments

 

I think his point, and it's a solid one, is that they rarely make changes in personnel groupings unless forced to do so by injury. Matthews has been iffy at best in pass protection and their line needs all the help it can get. Deciding on the fly to insert a guy who hasn't practiced with the unit all week would be disected the same way if it failed.

[mickalopagus 0]

I think his point, and it's a solid one, is that they rarely make changes in personnel groupings unless forced to do so by injury. Matthews has been iffy at best in pass protection and their line needs all the help it can get. Deciding on the fly to insert a guy who hasn't practiced with the unit all week would be disected the same way if it failed.

 

I totally agree. I dont know if its owner-bias that makes people want to defend mathews and argue that he should be the bellcow rb, or what. But there are significant reasons why Mathews is a shared-role RB. He has lost games for the chargers due to his fumbling issues, and that isnt evened out by the argument that Mathews 'might have' won the game would he have played the entire 4 quarters. The reality of it is he probably would have fumbled the ball, because thats what he does, on average after 40 carries. And he is approaching that number real quick here.

[cavern 70]

I think his point, and it's a solid one, is that they rarely make changes in personnel groupings unless forced to do so by injury. Matthews has been iffy at best in pass protection and their line needs all the help it can get. Deciding on the fly to insert a guy who hasn't practiced with the unit all week would be disected the same way if it failed.

 

yep - one could more easily argue that they should have attempted to win the game with one of the packages that mathews IS in rather than saying that mathews should have been forced into the 3rd down package. in that package the back is a complementary player whose primary role is pass protection rather than a feature player.

 

shoot, my guess is that while brown was in film study mathews was doing rehab or something

[Fantasy Noob 10]

I hate to point this out but Brown actually pulled off a nice 18yd run on a draw play that caught everyone by suprise on the final series. Even the announcer repeated Brown's name a couple times after that clearly stunned they ran him on a draw play within the 2min drill. The killer was the back to back deep pass plays that where called back on penalties. If either of those pass plays had stood the Chargers get at least 2 shots at the end zone.

 

I wish they would roll with the more talented back but Brown actually contributed on that game when they needed him too. Although it could be argued he helped cost them the game when no one noticed that Gaither came up lame with 3 plays to go and Brown failed to chip the DE on his side of the field. Colinsworth actually called it before it happened, if they didn't get Gaither some help than Wilson was going to sack Rivers the next play and thats exactly what happened. Best commentary I have seen (err heard) in a while.

[Skinny_Bastard 154]

this was against the saints last night. shoon greene could run for 200 yards against the saints. it is no surprise that matthews would have his best game of the season against them. next week he will be around 60 yards again. I wouldnt be surprised if he coughs the ball up again as well, as he is nearing his 40 carries (1 fumble for every 40 carries for matthews). dont buy the hype people, this kid will ruin your FF team

 

Greene can fly for 5 yards? More like .5.

[Skinny_Bastard 154]

I hate to point this out but Brown actually pulled off a nice 18yd run on a draw play that caught everyone by suprise on the final series. Even the announcer repeated Brown's name a couple times after that clearly stunned they ran him on a draw play within the 2min drill. The killer was the back to back deep pass plays that where called back on penalties. If either of those pass plays had stood the Chargers get at least 2 shots at the end zone.

 

I wish they would roll with the more talented back but Brown actually contributed on that game when they needed him too. Although it could be argued he helped cost them the game when no one noticed that Gaither came up lame with 3 plays to go and Brown failed to chip the DE on his side of the field. Colinsworth actually called it before it happened, if they didn't get Gaither some help than Wilson was going to sack Rivers the next play and thats exactly what happened. Best commentary I have seen (err heard) in a while.

 

Miss a block in the critical minutes, then miss the audible on the final drive. He can catch but it's a tell to the defense that it's a passing play.

[uwmalcolm 73]

I totally agree. I dont know if its owner-bias that makes people want to defend mathews and argue that he should be the bellcow rb, or what. But there are significant reasons why Mathews is a shared-role RB. He has lost games for the chargers due to his fumbling issues, and that isnt evened out by the argument that Mathews 'might have' won the game would he have played the entire 4 quarters. The reality of it is he probably would have fumbled the ball, because thats what he does, on average after 40 carries. And he is approaching that number real quick here.

 

Good point...because there is clearly a carry counter embedded in Matthews hands that goes off every 40 carries and forces him to fumble. Then it resets and he's good for another 40 touches. The coaches wouldn't dare put him out there when he's in the high thirties since his last fumble!

[Quickolas1 80]

while I certainly don't believe having Ronnie Brown in on the last 2 drives cost them the game (although maybe they'd have had a hail mary shot if he didn't miss the block when Gaither was hurt), R.Mathews was is on one or two 3rd downs earlier in the game and in several times on 2nd and long - catching screens, swing passes and making great blocks. the argument that ronnie brown practiced as the 3rd down back doesn't prove to me that Mathews couldn't have been in there on the final 2 drives... it just tells me they wanted to punish Mathews regardless of having their best shot to win the game. so they got what they deserved.

 

the 2nd half offensive playcalling was pretty bad. they barely tried to run the ball when Mathews showed he was the best weapon they had. putting the ball in Rivers' hands on 2nd-and-2 and 3rd-and-2 in the first half was a fail. settled for field goal. rivers also took a sack that led to a missed 55 yard field goal from Novak. put the ball in the end zone with your dynamic first rd RB and don't take a bad sack...and you're tied with 2 minutes to go...not down 7.

 

maybe they should punish rivers and themselves next time.

 

but ultimately, the personal foul against the rookie lineman hitting brees with his helmet was the play of the game. 14 point swing.

[cavern 70]

Miss a block in the critical minutes, then miss the audible on the final drive. He can catch but it's a tell to the defense that it's a passing play.

 

you know what else is a tell that it's a passing play? that you're down by a TD with little time remaining on the clock

[deefree93 0]

I totally agree. I dont know if its owner-bias that makes people want to defend mathews and argue that he should be the bellcow rb, or what. But there are significant reasons why Mathews is a shared-role RB. He has lost games for the chargers due to his fumbling issues, and that isnt evened out by the argument that Mathews 'might have' won the game would he have played the entire 4 quarters. The reality of it is he probably would have fumbled the ball, because thats what he does, on average after 40 carries. And he is approaching that number real quick here.

 

Really his 6 career lost fumbles are solely responsible for them losing games?

 

I bet they really would have pulled out that 27-3 barn burner if only he didn't put it on the ground. Phil Rivers and his 8 turnovers this year (27 last yr) beg to differ. When are we gonna see Charlie Whitehurst, goal line QB?

 

Plus your math is wrong on his fumbles, he has already gotten his 1 fumble out of the way for his 40 carries so theres nothing to worry about for a little while

[waxg 3]

There is no worse coach in the NFL than Norv.

I can't believe he still has a job. Others have been fired for much less.

[Quickolas1 80]

There is no worse coach in the NFL than Norv.

I can't believe he still has a job. Others have been fired for much less.

 

it very well may have been the GM not letting Norv play Mathews full-time.

[cavern 70]

Really his 6 career lost fumbles are solely responsible for them losing games?

 

I bet they really would have pulled out that 27-3 barn burner if only he didn't put it on the ground. Phil Rivers and his 8 turnovers this year (27 last yr) beg to differ. When are we gonna see Charlie Whitehurst, goal line QB?

 

Plus your math is wrong on his fumbles, he has already gotten his 1 fumble out of the way for his 40 carries so theres nothing to worry about for a little while

 

imo the "jackie battle is starting" is the motivational ploy w/r/t his fumbles. ronnie brown as the 3rd down back has more to do with getting mathews healthy

[mickalopagus 0]

Plus your math is wrong on his fumbles, he has already gotten his 1 fumble out of the way for his 40 carries so theres nothing to worry about for a little while

 

I almost cant wait until he dumps his next ball on the ground. all you fanatics are going to be dumbfounded at the length of his benching the next time around.