Flowers Continues Emergence In Week 15

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When given a window of opportunity, defensive end and former Razorback Trey Flowers knows how to make an impact. Making his sixth-straight start for the New England Patriots in a tough Week 15 matchup at Denver, Flowers continued to make his presence felt on defense totaling three tackles with two sacks in the 16-13 Patriots win.

2016 marks Flowers’ second full season with the Patriots after being drafted back in the summer of 2015. However, he patiently worked his way into a starter’s role midway through this season and doesn’t seem to be giving up that role anytime soon. He has emerged as New England’s best edge rusher with two weeks left in the regular season and only seems to be getting better with every game.

Flowers leads the Patriots with seven sacks on the year, all coming in the last seven games. That rate is tied for the fourth most in the NFL among all players with 7.0 or more sacks this season trailing only Vic Beasley of Atlanta, Khalil Mack of Oakland and Olivier Vernon of the New York Giants.

Sunday’s game against Denver was Flowers’ third multi-sack game this year adding to his strong performances in Week 8 against Buffalo and Week 10 against Seattle.

You won’t find Flowers’ 35 tackles for the year anywhere near the top of the list for players on defense, but 23 of his 35 tackles have all come over the same seven game stretch that has transformed him into one of the most fearsome defensive ends in the league.

Flowers Talks Win Over Broncos
Trey Flowers, Chris Long, Chris Hogan and more on the win over the Broncos

#ProHogs Tweet of the Week

That’s 7️⃣ sacks in the last 7️⃣ games for @III_Flowers! 🐗💪😤 https://t.co/noxWGUZZZI

— Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) December 19, 2016

Other #ProHogs Stars of the Week 

Hunter Henry – TE San Diego Chargers
Tight end Hunter Henry continues to be a go-to goal line target for quarterback Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers this season. The former Razorback turned rookie phenom tight end added his seventh touchdown catch of the season Sunday in San Diego’s 19-16 loss to Oakland. Even though it’s the third straight loss for the Chargers, Henry’s production hasn’t dropped off. Even after seeing some limited snaps a few weeks ago to nurse a sore knee, Henry still has four touchdowns in his last five games and has 10 catches over that span. Henry is now tied among all tight ends in the NFL in touchdown grabs and tied for ninth among all pass catchers. 26 of his 32 catches have gone for a first down, good for a 81.3 percent clip, good for second in the league among all receivers with 30 or more catches.

Henry Scores Again
Philip Rivers fits a 7-yard TD pass to Hunter Henry

A.J. Derby – TE Denver Broncos
Tight end A.J. Derby might be following Hunter Henry’s lead. Even though the former Razorback quarterback turned tight end is two years removed from the college ranks, he’s only playing his third full year as a tight end. Since his trade to the Broncos, Derby seems to have grasped the tight end role for the Broncos whole-heartedly. On Sunday in the loss to the Patriots, his former team, Derby pulled in four catches on six targets for 35 yards. Derby has nine catches over the last two weeks for 92 yards. He’s still looking for his first pro touchdown, but based on his numbers since Week 10, it shouldn’t be much longer.

McFadden Looks Strong In First Game Back
After suffering an elbow injury during the off-season that caused him to miss the first 13 games of the year, running back Darren McFadden finally made his 2016 debut Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Cowboys won the game mostly on the back of starting running back Ezekiel Elliot, but the leading Cowboy rusher from a year ago looked strong in his three carries, one earning Dallas a key first down.

McFadden’s first carry of the year didn’t even come from the tailback spot. It was at fullback, lined up in front of Elliott. On third-and-1 with both of their running backs on the field, Dallas fed it to McFadden, who converted the first down, which led to a score two plays later. McFadden finished the game with only 10 yards, but was happy to be back on the field after a long recovery.

“I’ve been walking around smiling all week,” McFadden said to DallasCowboys.com, “just knowing that I’d be up this week and being able to get out there with my teammates.”

#ProHogs Week 15 Roundup

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