Philadelphia Eagles: Ryan Mathews injured and overlooked

The Philadelphia Eagles inked both DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews to big contracts this offseason, and even though the latter has been injured (again) this season, you get the feeling that Chip Kelly isn’t getting the most out of a player who has proven to be the much more effective of the two RBs.

This week, the Philadelphia Eagles will look to snap a three-game losing streak, and they are coming off of back-to-back embarrassing losses to the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in which both teams had their way with the Eagles secondary. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have their own injuries to deal with, but I’m sure they are livid at losing their first game of the season to the rival Denver Broncos in controversial fashion and will look to spoil Sam Bradford‘s return to the field.

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One injured player who won’t be returning to the Eagles this week is running back Ryan Mathews, who has been ruled out for a third straight game after suffering a concussion in Week 10. A three-game streak applies to Mathews, too, because he is riding a streak of three straight games with a rushing touchdown and actually leads the team in TDs from scrimmage despite having just 89 touches this year.

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Mathews’s concussion is a bigger loss to the Eagles than some think, because he’s undeniably been the team’s best skill position player this season. The star of the Eagles offense as a whole is probably elite left tackle Jason Peters, but Mathews has been the offense’s most consistent source of yardage. Perhaps if he had 150+ carries like lead back DeMarco Murray, his rushing average wouldn’t be a sky-high 5.7, but the fact of the matter is that a 5.7 vs. 3.5 YPC advantage is a decisive one no matter how you spell it.

So far this season, Mathews has earned double-digit carries on just two occasions, picking up 108 yards on 24 carries in a big Week 3 win over a scary New York Jets run defense, as well as carving up the Dallas Cowboys for 67 on 11 carries in a Week 9 win.

Basically, when Mathews gets the ball, good things happen for both him and the Eagles. In fact, his only below-average game when given a real workload was in Week 10 against the Miami Dolphins, as he had eight carries for 18 yards (he did salvage his day with a TD) before suffering a concussion.

Back when he was with the San Diego Chargers, Mathews was used to being one of the most important backs around the league in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. In 2013 when the Chargers were briefly a juggernaut in the AFC, Mathews ran for 1,255 yards as a critical component of the Chargers ball-control offense, which was capable of pitting the team toe-to-toe with the Broncos all-time great O.

When Mathews featured in just six games last season due to injury, the Chargers offense faltered, and Philip Rivers and Co. missed out on a playoff appearance. Without Mathews this year, the Chargers have still failed to find consistency out of the rushing attack, though that might be more about the offensive line and coaching staff than rookie Melvin Gordon (time will tell).

Regardless, although Mathews wasn’t the NFL’s leading rusher last season and doesn’t have nearly as big of a name brand or contract as Murray, he was also a staple player on a successful playoff team. Which brings me to my next point: If the Eagles aren’t playing Murray over Mathews (when he’s not concussed, of course) due to his name brand and contract status, then why are they doing it? Are they worried about Mathews getting injured? Do they not think that he can be a feature back for them?

The latter would make no sense, since he’s obviously shown in the past that he has the talent and carry-to-carry consistency to be a lead guy. The former question also wouldn’t make sense, because they give him so few carries that he contributes less than 50 yards per game. Kelly and the Eagles desperately needed wins earlier in the season, too, and Mathews was their most efficient player on offense; you’d think that they would want to get the most out of him without being paranoid about injury, particularly when they seem confident enough in Murray anyway.

There’s no need to make Mathews vs. Murray comparisons a statement against Murray, because the numbers should serve to highlight just how well the former Charger has played in his almost frustratingly limited role in the Eagles offense. Even before the season started, some wondered if Mathews would be a better fit for the Eagles offense than Murray, and, during the season, during the season, Kelly has had to go out of his way to try and dispel that notion.

Sep 27, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Ryan Mathews (24) runs the ball against the New York Jets during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

However, the numbers show greater efficiency on Mathews’s part, and Pro Football Focus has Mathews with 3.19 yards after contact per carry and Murray with just 1.94. That is a monstrous gap, because it means that Mathews is in the top five in this stat and Murray is in the bottom ten.

All of this is meant to show just how underrated Mathews has been, because he’s managed to succeed despite playing in an ineffective offense that has been criticized repeatedly for being a disappointment from a blocking standpoint.

The likes of Jordan Matthews and Murray have failed to meet expectations this season, whereas Mathews’s solid numbers have largely avoided national praise.

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Maybe Kelly is out to justify the Murray signing by sticking with the former Dallas Cowboys superstar in the hopes that he returns to form, but with the losses piling up and the division still barely in reach, perhaps he should change his mind once Mathews is cleared to return from his concussion.

If Mathews doesn’t get to start, he’ll still be a valuable piece of the Eagles offense, even if it means he’ll continue to be overlooked by fans around the league.

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