Porter: Eagles Hurting Themselves By Not Using Ryan Mathews
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- I know, he fumbled twice. And one of those fumbles probably cost the Eagles a win.
But by giving up on Ryan Mathews, the Eagles are costing themselves wins --- plural. The Eagles are 3-1 when Mathews gets double-digit touches and 1-3 when he does not, with that lone win being when Mathews was injured in a blowout win over the Steelers.
Mathews, 29, is a 6'0", 220-pound back with 4.45 speed who was selected with the 12th overall pick in 2010. He can run, catch, and block and has rushed for over 1,000 yards in both of his seasons where he's received at least 200 carries.
The problem for Mathews, throughout his career, has been his health. Now, he's finally healthy and stuck in Doug Pederson's dog house.
"By stats and by what you're seeing, I would say that Darren [Sproles] is the No. 1 back right now," Pederson told reporters on Monday.
Since Mathews' second late-game fumble in Week 7 against the Vikings, Sproles has topped an 80-percent snap share in two consecutive games. Before Week 8, Sproles had never seen over 80-percent of the snaps in a game before.
Sproles has accumulated 36 touches and 174 scrimmage yards over the past two weeks, but at 33-years-old there is no way he should be receiving a career-high in snap share and usage rate, while also returning punts.
"You know, Ryan is still a big part [of the offense]. You saw the touchdown run that he had yesterday," Pederson said on Monday. "Kenjon [Barner] had a nice run. Wendell [Smallwood] had a nice run. So it's still a little bit of the running back by committee. Obviously, we haven't hung our hat on one guy, but we tend to lean more towards Darren Sproles. It's hard to take him off the field right now."
Despite just nine carries in his last two games, Mathews has found the end zone in both of those games. He has five rushing touchdowns which ties him for 11th best in the NFL, despite just 76 carries.
Smallwood -- who lost a costly fumble of his own against the Cowboys -- had a 19-yard run in the first-quarter against the Giants, but did not receive his second and final touch until the fourth quarter -- a six-yard carry.
Running backs have to hold onto the ball in the NFL, there's no doubt about that. But a few early season fumbles has forced Pederson to take an already weapon-depleted offense and make it even easier to defend.
Sproles is best in space, on third-downs, and on wheel routes. Mathews is your best early down and workhorse running back. And Smallwood can be that change of pace guy to spell Mathews.
The Eagles have lost four of their last five games and Carson Wentz has four touchdowns to five interceptions over that span. The last two games, he's thrown the ball 43 and 47 times, respectively.
"I would love to run the ball more," Pederson said. "Obviously, I think it does help Carson where you're not putting everything, the whole game let's say on his shoulders. So, I think going forward we probably should rely on the run just a little more."
You think?
