Bears neutralize Matthews, rush
As fast as Clay Matthews sped to chase down Jay Cutler, albeit grabbing the quarterback's face mask and earning a 15-yard penalty in the process, Green Bay's second-year linebacker was in hotter pursuit of Packers history Monday night.
Matthews entered Green Bay's game against the Bears at Soldier Field seeking a franchise record for most sacks in the first three games of a season.
Coming off a Pro Bowl season as a rookie, Matthews recorded 3 sacks in each of the Packers' first two games, against Philadelphia and Buffalo. The 6 sacks by the speedy 2009 first-round draft pick equaled the total posted by Packers all-time sack leader Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila in Green Bay's first three games in 2001.
"He's a relentless player," Bears offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer said of Matthews. "He goes every snap full go. It's one of the games where you got to check in and you can't check out until the end."
Shaffer didn't.
Getting his first start of the season at right tackle, after playing a majority of the Dallas game last week at the position after left tackle Chris Williams tweaked a hamstring, Shaffer had the tough task of trying to slow down Matthews.
Matthews lined up on Shaffer's side most of the night, and Shaffer turned in a performance worthy of praise.
Matthews didn't sack Cutler all night in the Bears' 20-17 win.
Matthews tackled Bears running back Chester Taylor for no gain on the game's first snap, but Shaffer did a creditable job of pushing Matthews wide and keeping him off Cutler in the first half.
Matthews' active first half included the face-mask penalty on Cutler during a 10-yard scramble by the Bears' QB in the first quarter. Matthews nearly had a second-quarter sack, but he was beaten to Cutler by teammate Tramon Williams for a 5-yard loss.
It was 1 of 3 sacks by Green Bay in the opening half, which saw the Packers in front 10-7 by intermission.
The 6-foot-5, 318-pound Shaffer, a nine-year veteran out of Tulsa, played Matthews basically 1-on-1 most of the night.
"It was a battle," Shaffer said. "He won some. I won some. I feel like there's a couple of plays I'd like to have back, but overall I thought I competed OK with him. We got the victory."
Matthews was credited with 3 solo tackles and 2 hits on Cutler.
"I thought (Shaffer) held his own against a great player," Bears coach Lovie Smith said.
"Without looking at the film, I thought the whole (offensive) line did a pretty good job."