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Nothing has gone right for the Philadelphia Eagles this season.
Chip Kelly's rebuilt offense has fallen apart. Sam Bradford has struggled with his consistency after being acquired in a trade for Nick Foles. DeMarco Murray's production has been hugely inconsistent, though it's hard to blame Murray as much as Kelly for his usage of the running back. On the offensive line, the interior has been the biggest issue with new guards not playing to expectations and center Jason Kelce struggling to meet previously established standards.
All of the turmoil in Philadelphia has led to a disappointing 3-4 record as we approach the halfway point of the season. Questions about the head coach and the quarterback have been pushed into the spotlight.
Fortunately for the non-quarterback, non-coach pieces in Philadelphia, the attention Kelly and Bradford are receiving is taking all of the attention away from their struggles. The pass-catching players in Philadelphia have struggled more this season than they ever have under Kelly. An altered scheme and new faces have led to major inconsistencies at the position. Against the Carolina Panthers in Week 7, the Eagles dropped eight of Bradford's passes including at least one touchdown.
The main culprit has been slot receiver Jordan Matthews. Matthews is in his second season. As a rookie, he caught 67 passes for 872 yards and eight touchdowns. Through seven games so far this season, the second-year receiver has caught 39 passes for 398 yards and one touchdown. More importantly, he has six drops.
Matthews has been a constant source of frustration for quarterback Sam Bradford since the beginning of the season. He had a bad drop in Week 1 that led to an interception for the quarterback and had two drops this past week against the Panthers.
After that game, it was reported that Matthews is dealing with a hand injury. It was suggested that the injury is a few weeks old but it hadn't even been hinted at over that time. Matthews had drop issues in college. As a rookie, he was generally reliable even though he had his negative moments. Matthews played in the ideal spot for any receiver last season. The slot receiver spot in Kelly's offense was a role that helped the receiver get open and primarily send him outside or deep down the field.
That has changed this season. Without a strong running game between the tackles, the Eagles haven't committed to the run and haven't been able to work deep down the middle of the field off of play action. As such, Matthews' role has changed.
He is no longer running to wide open space down the seams and over the middle or working inside out to catch the ball outside the numbers. Instead he spends most of his time running shallow crossing routes, putting him in position to be hit by linebackers and incoming safeties. Matthews has gone from catching the ball in space to having to be more wary of the bodies around him.
In these charts, the differences between where he caught the ball last season and where he caught the ball this season can be seen.
Matthews is a tall receiver, but he's not a strong receiver nor does he show courage at the catch point. With limited ball skills to adjust against tighter coverage, he is not an ideal fit in this role. Matthews needs to work further downfield with more consistency, but his ability to create separation without a strong running game that creates play action opportunities limits his overall effectiveness.
This isn't simply a case of Sam Bradford being too reluctant to throw the ball down the field or the quarterback's ball placement causing problems for Matthews, his flaws have all been of his own creation.
In Week 1, Matthews had settled down in his route over the middle of the field. Bradford threw him a pass that was slightly high, but not a ball that was in position to be comfortably caught. Matthews is 6'3" but he negates his height with his technique. Instead of keeping his feet on the ground and extending his arms in a more natural position, he bends his arms and leaves his feet to bring the ball in. His unnatural ball skills cause the ball to bounce off of his palms and slide through his hands.
With three defenders around him, the ball was always going to be in danger of being picked off. An arriving safety was able to take advantage of his mistake for a game-sealing turnover.
Just one week later, Matthews made exactly the same mistake. On this occasion, Bradford's throw was better. It arrived in the perfect spot for the tall receiver to pull the ball in before protecting himself or turning upfield. Matthews didn't show off composure or technique though, once again leaving his feet and approaching the ball uncomfortably.
Tall receivers are theoretically supposed to offer a greater catch radius for their quarterbacks than shorter receivers, but that isn't always the case. Poor ball skills and a lack of fluidity/body control can lead to a taller receiver having a wider but less reliable catch radius than a shorter one.
After failing to make a reception underneath, Bradford found Matthews downfield with a low, but catchable pass on a deep crossing route. Downfield targets for Matthews' this year have been few so he needs to take advantage of the ones he does get. On this play, he made his first mistake before he even touched the ball. He never recognized the flight of the ball and adjusted his route to work back through it. This left him reaching down uncomfortably for it.
Matthews isn't a natural hands catcher. He prefers to pull the ball in into his chest. This is what he attempts to do on this play, but as soon as the ball touches his chest it bounces away from him. At very worst the receiver should have turned in the opposite direction so he could have put his body between the ball and the ground.
Even if Matthews does have an injured hand, these three plays came early in the season. His hand injury reportedly only goes back three weeks, which is long after these plays were made.
It's hard to sell Matthews as a receiver. He lacks the ability to create his own separation and has unnatural ball skills to win at the catch point. His size and situation is what makes him attractive to some, but now that the situation is deteriorating, his fantasy value is going to continue to drop. Unless the Eagles can revamp their rushing attack to focus more between the tackles and be more committed to it, his production is unlikely to increase.
Considering how committed Kelly and his staff have been to running outside and throwing the ball as much as possible this year, buying into an improved situation is an illogical move.