Breaking Down Trey Flowers’ Clutch Super Bowl Dominance

Everyone’s favorite storyline involving the New England Patriots’ defense headed into the Super Bowl was that they hadn’t played anyone and would be exposed by Matt Ryan and the potent Falcons offense. Ryan certainly made his share of plays, but after giving up a third quarter touchdown that made it 28-3, the Patriots defense went into shutdown mode, cementing their place alongside the four other Super Bowl-winning Patriots’ defenses that came through in the clutch.

2016 breakout star Trey Flowers had a lot to do with it.

Most surprising was that a defense that had just 34 sacks in 16 games this season, just a little over two per game, the Pats defense had five sacks and 12 QB hits on just 23 pass dropbacks by Ryan. Trey Flowers led the way with 2.5 sacks and a staggering five quarterback hits.

Where was this kind of pass rush all season? Let’s take a closer look at how Flowers’ performance in Super Bowl 51.

The Patriots’ defense allowed just one third-down conversion the entire game and none once Atlanta hit 28 points. Flowers played a huge part in all of those critical third downs late in the game, using fantastic technique and balance to cause continuous disruption even when he wasn’t getting to the quarterback.

If you want to stack all the Patriots’ last four Super Bowls side-by-side, the play of the defense at the end of the games is what has decided them all, two for wins, two for losses. And if it were not for Flowers, this one might’ve looked the same.

In both Super Bowls 42 and 46, they couldn’t get those last sacks, the last bit of pressure needed to preserve the win or, as we saw in Super Bowl 51, keep the door open for Tom Brady. This time around Flowers (and Hightower) delivered, just like Hightower and Malcolm Butler delivered in Super Bowl 49.

The signs that this would be a big game for Flowers were apparent on the first Falcons possession when Flowers got his first sack on third down, forcing a huge three-and-out to start the game. Flowers came off the edge this time, winning with relentless hand fighting and getting the Pats defense off to the start they needed. (Also worth crediting the coverage here too by Hightower dropping and making Ryan hold the ball long enough for Flowers to get there.)

But Flowers really saved his best for last and the Patriots won the Super Bowl because of it. Let’s take a look at the hand Flowers had in each of the final Falcons’ possessions:

Falcons 28-9

• 2nd down – Flowers run stop for a loss of one.
• 3rd down – Flowers splits sack with Van Noy, forces punt.

Falcons 28-12

• 2nd down – Flowers run stop for 1 yard gain.
• 3rd down – *Hightower strip sack

Falcons 28-20

• 2nd down – Flowers sack for -12 yards.

Patriots 28, Falcons 28

• 3rd down – Flowers got a QB hit from a two-man rush. It was the last time the Atlanta offense would take the field.

There’s one exception in that group of big plays and it’s the Hightower strip sack that was one of the other huge key defensive plays.

The Patriots have lacked a true interior pass rush threat forever, but now it’s the short-but-long-armed Flowers who not only seized the role this season but evolved into a dominant force. It shouldn’t be surprising the the emergence of this interior pass rush threat enabled the Patriots defense to take down an excellent pocket passer like Ryan.

But the best part is that, unlike someone like Dominique Easley, who would’ve been a specialty pass rusher, Flowers can play every down effectively. The defensive end snaps illustrate just how highly the Patriots regard Flowers — he played 92 percent of the defensive snaps. Ninkovich (55 percent), Sheard (47 percent) and Long (31 percent) were far behind him.

Flowers is set to be a key building block for the Patriots front seven now. He’ll enter the 2017 season firmly entrenched as a three-down player, and the best part of that is helping the Patriots avoid having to go out and overspend for a proverbial “pass rusher.”