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Flowers immediately recognized what was happening, came back from the route and brought down Harbor a yard behind the line of scrimmage.
What you see when watching the play on film is that Weddle actually made a guileful move to narrowly avoid the pick and looked to be in position to make a stop to prevent the first-down conversion. What Weddle saw when recalling the play was a bigger picture.
“He’s not even supposed to be there,” Weddle said, practically giddy. “But he recognizes his guy is trying to pick mine and he makes a play.”
If you’ve been watching the Chargers secondary for any span of years, the sequence was like a fog melting in a warm sun. Weddle didn’t say so, but it seemed like the kind of beautiful art that might bring tears to his eyes.
Like this on Wednesday, a familiar scene at Chargers Park:
Flowers, Addae and Jason Verrett walked toward the locker room after practice, stopped at the edge of the grass, dropped their helmets, took off their practice jersey and shoulder pads, picked back up their helmets and began to jog.
“That’s all Flo,” Addae said after their four laps (about one mile) around the two practice fields. “He’s a wily veteran. He knows if you keep your conditioning up, that eliminates mistakes.”
And there it was. In that synopsis was a big portion of the argument that can be made that why Flowers has been the most important player on a Chargers defense that has suddenly become known for its ability to make stops and close out games.
Flowers watches film like a coach, openly tries to be a coach on the field and in the meeting room, stressing details, pointing out tendencies.
His play so far – five receptions (for just 68 yards) on 12 passes his direction, with three passes defended, an athletic and intuitive interception and tied with Weddle for a team-high nine stops (tackles after a gain of three yards or less) – gives his leadership emphasis.
What you see when watching the play on film is that Weddle actually made a guileful move to narrowly avoid the pick and looked to be in position to make a stop to prevent the first-down conversion. What Weddle saw when recalling the play was a bigger picture.
“He’s not even supposed to be there,” Weddle said, practically giddy. “But he recognizes his guy is trying to pick mine and he makes a play.”
If you’ve been watching the Chargers secondary for any span of years, the sequence was like a fog melting in a warm sun. Weddle didn’t say so, but it seemed like the kind of beautiful art that might bring tears to his eyes.
Like this on Wednesday, a familiar scene at Chargers Park:
Flowers, Addae and Jason Verrett walked toward the locker room after practice, stopped at the edge of the grass, dropped their helmets, took off their practice jersey and shoulder pads, picked back up their helmets and began to jog.
“That’s all Flo,” Addae said after their four laps (about one mile) around the two practice fields. “He’s a wily veteran. He knows if you keep your conditioning up, that eliminates mistakes.”
And there it was. In that synopsis was a big portion of the argument that can be made that why Flowers has been the most important player on a Chargers defense that has suddenly become known for its ability to make stops and close out games.
Flowers watches film like a coach, openly tries to be a coach on the field and in the meeting room, stressing details, pointing out tendencies.
His play so far – five receptions (for just 68 yards) on 12 passes his direction, with three passes defended, an athletic and intuitive interception and tied with Weddle for a team-high nine stops (tackles after a gain of three yards or less) – gives his leadership emphasis.
First, that's why Flowers is my Charger's Season Q1 Defensive MVP. He makes plays, he raises the level of the entire defense.
Second, pick plays are a major part of football now. Defenses have to have techniques to defend them. I don't think you can fight through a pick without losing a couple of yards in your coverage. So you have to go around them or switch defenders. It's good to see this D is working to successfully defend pick plays.
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