Buccaneers vs Patriots: Five game-changing players for Week 5

Trey Flowers

The New England defense is struggling. Jameis Winston and his offense need to take advantage of that. It will be harder to take advantage, though, if someone like Trey Flowers is disrupting your rhythm. The third-year defensive end has three sacks this year, which is the most on the team. The Patriots only have five other sacks on the year, which points to him as the most important guy on the defensive line.

The Bucs saw an encouraging performance from their offensive line this past Sunday, as the group allowed just one sack. Keeping the quarterback on his feet is obviously huge, and giving him time to watch a play develop is just as big. The o-line did that for him against the Giants, which led to multiple big plays. The unit also created some solid space for Jacquizz Rodgers to work with. That allowed Tampa Bay to establish the run, which then set up play-action passes. Winston’s 58-yard touchdown pass to O.J. Howard was helped by that ability to use the play-action effectively. And once No. 3 and the speedy DeSean Jackson can get on the same page, the offensive line will still need to give enough time for the play to develop.

So, what does all of this have to do with Flowers? Well, all of that great stuff that the Buccaneer offensive line can do goes out the window if he is doing his job. The former Arkansas Razorback tallied seven sacks a year ago, and is well on his way to surpassing that this year. If he can get after Winston on Sunday and force him into mistakes, it could be a rough day for the Tampa Bay offense.