Patriots Heroes: Trey Flowers Blossoms on the Super Bowl Stage

New England Patriots defensive end Trey Flowers was one of the players who stepped up on defense.  His sack on Matt Ryan helped complete the comeback.

With the offense getting most of the credit for the historical Super Bowl comeback, it wouldn’t have been possible without the New England Patriots defense providing some key stops and creating a turnover.  One of the players in the mix was second-year defensive end Trey Flowers.

As the product of Arkansas has emerged throughout the second half of the season as the teams best pass rusher, Flowers really put his name on the map.  Overall, Flowers had 2.5 sacks, but he delivered the biggest play late in the fourth quarter.

With Atlanta leading 28-20 and threatening to extend the lead with at least a field goal, Flowers blasted through center Alex Mack to drag Ryan down for a 12-yard sack.  Combined with the holding penalty that occurred on the very next play, the sack by Flowers helped take the Falcons out of field goal range and gave the ball back to the Patriots.

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The rest was history from there.

Like many other players on the Patriots roster, Flowers was ready and prepared for the moment.  After sitting out the majority of his rookie year due to injury, the young defensive end has put in the work to become a major factor on defense.  That hard work and persistence showed on Sunday.

"“I was just thankful, I was blessed to be able to execute on the opportunity when my time was called,” Flowers said via The Boston Herald."

While the moment still hasn’t hit Flowers, he knows that his influence and impact on the game Sunday will be something that will go down in history.  His one play was one of many memorable plays that catapulted the Patriots to their fifth Super Bowl title.

"“It still hasn’t hit me yet, man.  I’ve been seeing a lot of people post about it, and all on the TV and things,” Flowers said.  “But it’s just one of those things that I really have to sit down and say, ‘Twenty years from now people are still going to talk about this game.”"

Related Story: Trey Flowers Continues to Emerge on Defense

As good as it feels, the Patriots as an organization have to feel good about the future of Trey Flowers.  Sometimes it takes a game like that or a play like that to really define a players career.

Just ask Malcolm Butler.

Next: Claude Julien Finally Fired, Bruce Cassidy Named Interim

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