Ryan Mathews' Health Important to Chargers' Stretch Run

San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews had a difficult night to say the least against a stifling New England Patriots run defense. On 11 attempts, he picked up a lowly 44 yards in what turned out to be a 23-14 loss at home.

Toward the end of the first half, ghosts of injuries past came circling back as Mathews went down with what appeared to be a leg injury, per Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego:

Thankfully, he would return to the field in the second half, carrying the football just two additional times.

There wasn't much running room, thanks to the Patriots' efforts controlling the line of scrimmage. They bottled up the entire Chargers offensive attack, which meant Mathews' production was limited at best.

The concern here isn't what Mathews did on Sunday Night Football. It's bigger than that.

The real issue at hand is the 27-year-old tailback's health—or lack thereof—heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

Even with the loss to New England, at 8-5, the Chargers are still are in possession of the second AFC Wild Card seed. But holding down that spot is going to hinge on the health and production of Mathews.

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The same old ugly narrative is here once again. By now, you know the drill: "Ryan Mathews can't stay healthy." 

In reality, that's true. He's only played a full 16-game schedule once during his five-year NFL career, and this season, he's only dressed for five games.

Those numbers hurt even more when you realize that he's by far the best back on this roster.

We know that the Chargers offense has enough ammunition to spread the ball around and hurt teams in a variety of ways. Antonio Gates is nightmare to deal with in the red zone—he has scored seven times in that area of the field—Keenan Allen has become a quality route-runner and at 6'5", Malcolm Floyd is always a threat down the field.

The way you get all of those weapons working is twofold: First, it starts by coming up with ways to get them into space. Secondly, installing a powerful ground game is necessary to take pressure off of those guys.

Mathews is the only halfback left who's capable of achieving that second part.

Take last season for example. Even with Danny Woodhead out there, Mathews still shouldered the load. On a career-high 285 rushing attempts, he knifed his way to 1,255 yards rushing and scored six touchdowns on the ground.

You would think head coach Mike McCoy would install a ton of play-action passes behind that type of production, but if you go by Pro Football Focus' count (subscription required), that actually wasn't the case. 

With Philip Rivers under center, the Chargers used play-action just 13.1 percent of the time.

The key here wasn't how many times they ran it. It was how effective the veteran QB was when it was called.

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Rummaging through PFF's metrics, Rivers had the third-best QB rating in that category. On 77 passing attempts, he completed 54 of those for 755 yards, six touchdowns and just one interception.

Efficiency at its finest.

Not counting the game against the Patriots, this season, with Mathews suiting up five times, the Chargers have called a play-action pass just 9.2 percent of the time. 

Rivers still has a great quarterback rating in those situations—126.3 to be exact—but he's only tossed two touchdowns and thrown for 412 yards.

It's unclear if the drop in percentage is directly correlated to Mathews' absence, but it is worth noting the difference from last season. At 9.2 percent, that play-action total is currently the lowest amongst any team in the NFL.

Before we go any further, another important thing to note is Mathews isn't an elite running back. He doesn't have the breakaway ability or vision to be lumped together with names like Arian Foster, Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoy or DeMarco Murray. Watching him over the years, that much is clear.

However, that doesn't take away from what he means to this Chargers team. He can still find creases to work in, and his powerful style of running shouldn't be swept under the rug.

As was the case last season, his style of running also happens to fit Coach McCoy's zone-blocking scheme.

Stephen Hwang of BoltsFromTheBlue.com wrote an excellent article this past September highlighting all of the major offensive changes McCoy brought with him to San Diego. Touching on the running game, he mentioned that Mathews "succeeded in college" playing in a zone-blocking scheme.

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Going back to a philosophy that Mathews is comfortable with clearly has benefited not only his production, but also the way the entire Chargers offense moves.

Look, the evidence is there. For better or worse, his health is important. He's still the guy in San Diego—undrafted rookie Branden Oliver had his moments, but since Mathews' return his carries have rapidly decreased.

There are now three games left, and none of them are going to be easy. The Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers are all on the menu. Without Mathews operating at full health, it's going to be nearly impossible for this team to make a return trip to the postseason.

In a contract year, the veteran tailback has to prove his worth. What better time is there to do that than right now?

Unless noted otherwise, all game scores and information come courtesy of ESPN.com.