Before the Falcons do anything offensively against the Green Bay Packers, they’ll have to find linebacker Clay Matthews III.
The Green Bay Packers have taken to moving Matthews, who has been strictly an outside linebacker, around the defense. The four-time Pro Bowler is playing inside on running downs and outside in passing situations in Dom Capers’ 3-4 defensive scheme.
“He’s one of the elite players in this league and they make it hard to find him because he doesn’t stay in one spot,” Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said. “In the past, he’s always been an outside linebacker and now he’s all over the place. He’s outside, he’s inside, he’s what we call a spinner.”
Matthews, who was the defensive player of the year in 2010, has taken to his new role.
“What it does is create matchups where you can’t necessarily always block him with a lineman,” Koetter said. “Sometimes you’re going to have to block him with a back or a tight end. They are creating matchups. They are basically playing offense with the defense.”
In addition to finding Matthews, the Packers signed former Carolina Panther and Chicago Bears standout Julius Peppers this offseason. He leads the Packers with five sacks.
“They’ve got other guys that are good pass rushers besides Matthews, most notably Peppers,” Koetter said. “(Nick Perry) is a good rusher. (Mike) Neal is a good rusher. They’ve got some other guys that are capable rushers, so what they do a good job of is forcing you to single block (Matthews) where you don’t have a free-hitter sitting in the hole and it creates one-on-one matchups. That’s smart by them. They are taking advantage of their talent.”
The pass protection will be tested against the Packers.
“Most teams are lucky to have one, but they’ve got two elite pass rushers,” Koetter said.
