Is Chris Matthews the Real Deal?

[capncrunch]

Pete was over for dinner the other day an we were doing a few shots after some amazing baby back ribs when I asked him what's up with Mathews. He said they are really high on his potential. Tall with good hands, decent speed, but he has issues recognizing defenses and getting separation on a regular basis. He's a work in progress and will definitely get a shot at showing what he can do, but he's not there yet.

Pete got a little sloppy after that and I honestly was a bit drunk myself at that point and don't remember much else.

SC

What an ass.....I bet you gave him the rot-gut to drink, and kept all the good stuff for yourself eh? :thirishdrinkers:

Not sure why you have to make this personal. I'm not a big tequila drinker and since Pete brought the bottle if it was rot gut that's on him. I was in charge of the ribs and they came from Missouri, duroc-berkshire cross and delicious.

SC

Actually, I don't think you will remember because of all the booze, but I was there. The ribs were gone, but the tequila continued to flow. The three of us started to dance to some Mariachi music. Pete got pissed and demanded Shakedown Street by the GD. I didn't realize he was such a good singer. He finally admitted that he was going to flip a coin with Belvell next week. Heads CM is cut from the team. Tails he starts every snap next year. Thanks for having me over. I will ring the doorbell instead of climbing over the wall next time.

 

[NFSeahawks]

All I could think about throughout the super bowl was how Chris Matthews was going to light up the league next year.

Best hands on the team, so soft, such catch.

IT WILL HAPPEN.

 

[KiwiHawk]

I'm not sure about Matthews lighting up the league, but if we had an alternate tall receiver in the Super Bowl, New England would have been in some serious trouble. They took out Matthews with Browner, but if they had to use Browner to cover someone like Graham, then Matthews would have been open all game long.

Not many teams can match up two tall defenders to negate two tall receivers. This could be a big year for Matthews, who will benefit greatly from Graham being on the team.

 

[HawkMeat]

There are so many players that have a great game and that is that. We all hope he smokes the league, but noway to know unless he plays meaningful snaps this season.

 

[crosfam]

I have a feeling that barring injury Chris Matthews is starting for us sometime next year. Kearse drops to #3, and cashes in as a FA the year after with another team. With a draft pick (WR/PR/KR?) and Richardson coming back, plus Norwood, there will have to be some rotations of the crew in the future.

 

[BlueTalon]

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.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[Northwest Seahawk]

I think he had an enormous size matchup advantage in a game where our primary WRs were covered by Revis and Browner. That's just not going to happen again almost ever. It was a nice performance, but it would be a fool's errand to project from it.

I do think there were two good things to take away from it. One, Matthews can step up on the big stage and won't choke. Two, our passing offense is getting better at exploiting matchups.

Well with Matthews on the field we actually had a matchup to exploit .

 

[rideaducati]

I think he'll become more of the "real deal" than either Baldwin or Kearse ever will.

Matthews wasn't shut down by Browner, Russell was late getting the ball out and he threw the ball too short or too long. Matthews was open several times with Browner on him. I think Russell and Chris will get on the same page this year. With Chris starting the season way down on the depth chart, he probably wasn't working with Russell and had to rely on Tarvaris and BJ to get him the ball in practice. That may have had SOME impact as to why he wasn't on the field in the regular season. From what we've all seen from Tarvaris, he won't throw the ball unless the WR is wide open BEFORE he throws the ball. So, when you combine the lack of speed of Matthews and the propensity of Tarvaris to only throw the ball to open guys, there shouldn't really be any wonder as to why we didn't get to see Matthews sooner.

I have higher expectations for Matthews going forward because he offers what Russell seems to love. A guy that is big and CAN go up and come down with jump balls. Russell gives his receivers chances that other QBs shy away from.

Go back and watch all the passes that Baldwin and Kearse miss in traffic. Now imagine how many balls those guys miss that will now have a better chance to be caught because Matthews is always open above where neither Baldwin or Kearse could get to.

I don't think he'll be great, but I think he'll be better than what the Seahawks have had in recent seasons.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Whats the word? From the little we have seen from him, Is he one of those rag to riches story who will become a pro bowler in the making?

At the very least how does he compare to our usual cast of Doug, Prich, Kearse, and Lockette?

I have no idea but as *The Magic 8-Ball" said that most people had as a child...."The outlook is good".

 

[Hasselbeck]

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

If Norwood gets on the active list that'd be enough to merit a "breakout year" label.

The fact he couldn't step on the field with the WR's the way they were last season post Harvin is uh... alarming to say the least.

I'm worried the FO squandered an incredible opportunity to nab a star WR in last years draft. I love Paul Richardson, but his knee injury is worrisome .. and Norwood was as big a contributor on offense last year as Phil Bates

 

[Ozzy]

I get why you're a little worried but I think this years draft can produce good results at WR as well. I think Richardson will be fine long term and we can add another guy who can contribute early this year. I hope anyway...

 

[Basis4day]

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

If Norwood gets on the active list that'd be enough to merit a "breakout year" label.

The fact he couldn't step on the field with the WR's the way they were last season post Harvin is uh... alarming to say the least.

Baldwin and Kearse were the starters, so they're going to get playing time. They liked how Richardson progressed. They liked what Lockette offered as a gunner and they needed Walters on returns. That's 5 WR already on the most run heavy team on the league when you can only have 46 active players on game day. Throw in some required o-line help on a unit that was knicked up all year and there is nothing alarming at all about Norwood considering it was his rookie year.

 

[jlwaters1]

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

If Norwood gets on the active list that'd be enough to merit a "breakout year" label.

The fact he couldn't step on the field with the WR's the way they were last season post Harvin is uh... alarming to say the least.

I'm worried the FO squandered an incredible opportunity to nab a star WR in last years draft. I love Paul Richardson, but his knee injury is worrisome .. and Norwood was as big a contributor on offense last year as Phil Bates

He played in 9 games last year started 2 according to NFL.com. Your comments suggest he was always inactive.
http://www.nfl.com/player/kevinnorwood/2543689/profile

He had 9 catches for 102 yards. He made a few critical catches- a 3rd down catch against Carolina, a big gainer against the Rams that setup a TD. I think he did well when he played.

We shall see what happens. I expect the young WR's - Norwood, Matthews to take a significant step forward in their progression. If not for Richardson's injury he'd be starting and I would have extremely high hopes for him. I hope he can recover quickly.