As Injuries Mount, Tre Flowers Re-Emerges for Seahawks' Maligned Secondary
RENTON, WA - For the first half of the 2020 season, calling the Seahawks play in the secondary disappointing would be an understatement.
This offseason, general manager John Schneider shipped a fifth-round pick to Washington for cornerback Quinton Dunbar and also sent a smorgasbord of picks to the New York Jets for safety Jamal Adams. Those two players were supposed to team up with Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Quandre Diggs to form one of the best defensive backfields in the NFL.
Unfortunately, through two months of games, that hasn't happened. In fact, at least statistically, the unit has been the worst in the league, playing a key role in surrendering an NFL record 2,897 passing yards in the first eight games.
Ironically, considering Schneider invested in Dunbar this offseason with sights on potentially replacing Tre Flowers at right cornerback, it's been the latter who has been the lone bright spot in recent weeks.
Like the rest of Seattle's beleaguered secondary, Flowers got off to a slow start, losing his starting job to Dunbar before the season opener. When thrust back into the lineup with Dunbar sidelined by a knee injury in Week 3 and Week 4, he struggled mightily, allowing a long touchdown to Cowboys receiver Michael Gallup and giving up multiple receptions in coverage against the Dolphins.
Through his first four games of the season, opposing quarterbacks posted a 121.7 passer rating and completed 82.1 percent of their passes when targeting Flowers. Playing 174 snaps during that span, he allowed 23 receptions on 28 targets for 290 yards and nearly 13 yards per completion. It wasn't the progress coach Pete Carroll and Seattle had in mind after he started 30 games over the past two years.
But as the season has progressed, Flowers has taken advantage of additional opportunities to play with both Griffin and Dunbar ailing. Griffin has missed the past two weeks with a hamstring injury, while Dunbar's chronic knee issues have continued to hinder him on the field.
"He was ready to come in confidence-wise and have a really big season," Carroll said on Wednesday. "Talked to him in the offseason, and once we got going his mind was right. Competition kind of took over and he got in the middle of it all, and now for whatever the reason is, he's come right back to the focus he intended to bring to camp. A couple weeks back it started and you could see him click in technique-wise playing really solid. You can see the confidence in everything that he's doing."
Stepping in for Griffin with Dunbar switching over to the left side, Flowers has played some of his best football over the past two weeks despite the Seahawks continued problems surrendering historic passing yardage totals. Playing nearly every defensive snap, his opposing passer rating has dropped nearly 20 points to 106.2, the completion percentage against him has dipped 10 percent, and he's allowed just 130 yards in coverage over the past four games.
In Sunday's 44-34 loss to Buffalo, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, Flowers allowed only a 65.1 passer rating as the closest defender in coverage. Along with recording six tackles, he helped jar a pass out of receiver Stefon Diggs' hands.
On an afternoon where there weren't many positives for a porous Seattle defense that once again allowed over 400 yards passing and surrendered three passing touchdowns to Josh Allen, in an unsolicited response, Carroll couldn't help but praise Flowers for his impressive turnaround on Monday.
"I thought Tre played the best game he’s played in a long time, maybe his best game ever in terms of technique and consistency. He looks like his confidence is at an all-time high. I think that’s a really great step for him."
Set to travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams in a critical NFC West matchup on Sunday, the Seahawks still have major injury concerns to address at the cornerback position.
Dunbar struggled mightily playing on a bum knee in Buffalo and the team remains in "wait and see" mode on whether or not he will be able to suit up this week. Similarly with Griffin, Carroll indicated he has started running to test his hamstring but Seattle wouldn't know until later in the week about his potential availability. Neither player practiced on Wednesday.
Barring outstanding recoveries from both players later this week, there's a strong likelihood Flowers will remain in the lineup for his third consecutive start and fifth overall this season. Given Dunbar's ongoing knee issues, it may be wise to rest him anyway.
And if Flowers continues to play well against the Rams talented set of receivers? As the Seahawks continue to search for answers for their defensive woes, it's not out of the realm of possibility the player who was supposed to be replaced may not relinquish his job after all.
