Ryan Mathews faces the Giants tomorrow night in Thursday night football. It's a tough matchup, with the Giants ranked in the top 6 against the run. But Mathews should get plenty of work, and he's generally been solid when that has been the case.
Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner are on injured reserve, so the previous four-man committee is down to just two. Darren Sproles missed last week with a concussion, though he was practicing Tuesday and is expected to return. Regardless, Mathews should be the main runner, and that's worked out well for him.
In six different games this season, Mathews has got 10-plus carries. That includes some poor run defenses, but also Baltimore last week, which has one of the league's very best groups. Mathews got in the end zone in three of those games, and went over 75 rushing yards in three of them. Yards per carry were fine in two of the others; he just didn't get enough chances.
Workload shouldn't be a problem tomorrow night. Mathews is Philly's best chance of springing an upset.
| RYAN MATHEWS WITH 10-PLUS CARRIES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Clev. | 22 | 77 | 3.5 | 1 |
| Det. | 11 | 42 | 3.8 | 0 |
| Minn. | 14 | 56 | 4.0 | 0 |
| Atl. | 19 | 109 | 5.7 | 2 |
| Wash. | 15 | 60 | 4.0 | 0 |
| Balt. | 20 | 128 | 6.4 | 1 |
--Andy Richardson