Flowers and Williams Stand Out In Week 8
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Looking for a true breakout performance, defensive end Trey Flowers finally had the hard work pay off Sunday as his five tackle, two sack performance against Buffalo made him one of the bright stars among the former Razorbacks in the NFL this week.
Flowers big defensive performance helped the New England Patriots defeat the Bills, 41-25, for their fourth straight victory. The Patriots are now 7-1 on the year and hold a commanding lead in the AFC East, while also having the best record in the NFL.
For Flowers, the second-year veteran has been slowly upping his snap count each week with the Patriots and turned in his best game as a pro as the two sacks are the first of his young career and his five tackles are a new career high.
The Huntsville, Alabama native has four multi-tackle games this season and has 17 takedowns on the year, seven being solo. He’s one of 18 Patriots with 10 or more tackles this year and has become a premier defensive end off the bench.
Flowers Teams With Donta’ Hightower To Bring Down The Quarterback
J-Will Barrels Into End Zone For First Career Touchdown
In that same game, running back Jonathan Williams found the end zone for the first time in his rookie season. The fifth round draft pick has seen limited carries for the Bills this year, but provided the final score of the game on Sunday against New England, scoring from one yard out for the third Bills touchdown of the day.
Williams has seen action in four games this season and only has 35 yards on 13 carries, but he is the 12th rookie to score a touchdown in the NFL this season.
With his touchdown on Sunday, Williams is the third former Razorback from this year’s draft class to score a touchdown in their rookie season. Tight end Hunter Henry has become a go-to player for the San Diego Chargers this year as he is tied for the team lead with three touchdowns and running back Alex Collins scored his first TD back in Week 6 for the Seattle Seahawks.
Jonathan Williams scores his first NFL TD. #BillsRunDeep pic.twitter.com/CZsJrjFgo1
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) October 30, 2016
Swanson Becoming Lions’ Most Improved Player
Center Travis Swanson started the preseason as a third-year pro that might have to battle for a starting spot in 2016. After a sub-par season last year, Swanson has gone above and beyond the expectations this year helping guide a Lions offense that has passed for more than 2,000 yards this season and is averaging 255.6 yards per game.
Last week, Detroit head coach Jim Caldwell named Swanson the team’s offensive captain for its game in Houston, which is Swanson’s hometown. Swanson is rated by ProFootballFocus as the fifth best center in the game and he credits two mentors that have helped in his turnaround.
Read the rest of the article from MLive.com’s Kyle Meinke here:
Lions’ top-rated offensive player yesterday? Travis Swanson. He’s really turned it around this year https://t.co/oVNZ6A3DCX pic.twitter.com/aF6pEb9r5O
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) October 31, 2016
#ProHogs Roundup
| Name, Position | Team | Week 8 Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brandon Allen, QB | Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) | Inactive at Tennessee (4-4) |
| Alvin Bailey, OL | Cleveland Browns (0-8) | Started at LG vs. New York Jets (3-5); 4th start of year; Played 55 plays in 31-28 loss. |
| Alex Collins, RB | Seattle Seahawks (4-2-1) | Did not play at New Orleans (3-4). |
| Knile Davis, RB | Green Bay Packers (4-3) | Made Packers debut at Atlanta (5-3); 3 carries for 4 yards; 2 catches for 4 yards in 33-32 loss. |
| AJ Derby, TE | Denver Broncos (6-2) | Inactive vs. San Diego (3-5) |
| Trey Flowers, DE | New England Patriots (7-1) | 5 tackles, 2 sacks (9 yards) at Buffalo (4-4); 21 plays in 41-25 victory. |
| Brett Goode, LS | Green Bay Packers (4-3) | Long-snapper on all seven kicking plays against Atlanta. |
| Cobi Hamilton, WR | Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) | BYE WEEK |
| Hunter Henry, TE | San Diego Chargers (3-5) | Started at TE at Denver; Seventh straight start; Caught 2 passes on 4 targets for 14 yards; Sixth straight game with at least one catch. |
| Denver Kirkland, OL | Oakland Raiders (6-2) | Started on line at Tampa Bay (3-4); Third straight start; 15 plays in 30-24 victory. |
| Ryan Mallett, QB | Baltimore Ravens (3-4) | BYE WEEK |
| Jason Peters, OL | Philadelphia Eagles (4-3) | Started at LT at Dallas (6-1); 78 plays (100%) in 29-23 loss. |
| Darius Philon, DE | San Diego Chargers (3-5) | 1 tackle vs. Denver; 10 plays in 27-19 loss. |
| Chris Smith, DE | Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) | 2 tackles vs. Tennessee; 20 plays on defense; 1 play on ST. |
| Martrell Spaight, LB | Washington Redskins (4-3-1) | 15 plays on ST vs. Cincinnati in 27-27 tie. |
| Travis Swanson, C | Detroit Lions (4-4) | Started at C at Houston (5-3); Eighth straight start; 61 plays in 20-13 loss. |
| Robert Thomas, DT | New York Giants (4-3) | BYE WEEK |
| Sebastian Tretola, OL | Tennessee Titans (4-4) | Made NFL debut vs. Jacksonville (2-5); 3 plays at guard in 36-22 victory. |
| Jonathan Williams, RB | Buffalo Bills (4-4) | 5 carries for 12 yards and 1 touchdown vs. New England; 19 plays on offense. |
| Jarius Wright, WR | Minnesota Vikings (5-2) | Inactive at Chicago (2-6). |
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