PDA

View Full Version : Chiefs Babb: Chiefs rookie Flowers shows his promise with two interceptions


Tribal Warfare
10-26-2008, 09:58 PM
Chiefs rookie Flowers shows his promise with two interceptions (http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/859625.html)
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. | Brandon Flowers recognized New York’s formation and the motion. The same crossing route had beaten him earlier for a first down. If this one beat him, the Jets would have a touchdown.

“And I’d never hear the end of it,” said Flowers, a rookie Chiefs cornerback.

Instead, Flowers jumped in front of Chansi Stuckey and intercepted Brett Favre’s pass. Flowers returned it 91 yards for what was then a go-ahead touchdown in the Chiefs’ 28-24 loss at the Meadowlands. It was Flowers’ second interception Sunday, his first picks as a pro.

Flowers has been a rare bright spot on the Chiefs’ defense, and his performance Sunday was what they hoped for when Kansas City grabbed Flowers early in the second round of this year’s draft out of Virginia Tech. The Chiefs liked his speed and build, but it was his instincts they loved. Flowers knew how to find the ball, and he got his chance Sunday.

“This,” veteran cornerback Patrick Surtain said, “is why we drafted him. We knew from day one.”

As Kansas City’s defensive front continues to prove to be a weakness, the Chiefs’ cornerbacks seem to be the only part of the young defense that has grown up. The problem has been that teams don’t need to pass against the Chiefs, and that has minimized the cornerbacks’ impact.

Flowers said in the locker room Sunday that the Chiefs knew the Jets would be different. Favre is New York’s quarterback, and his past includes a Super Bowl win; his future includes the Hall of Fame.

“We knew he was going to throw the ball,” Flowers said. “You have to put the ball in (Favre’s) hands.”

The Chiefs intercepted Favre three times; free safety Jarrad Page had the other one on an overthrown pass in the second quarter.

Flowers’ first interception was in the first quarter, but it was his read in the fourth that seemed to validate what the Chiefs hoped for from him. Flowers said he recognized how the Jets lined up on the Chiefs’ 8, New York trying to add an insurance touchdown to pad its 21-17 lead.

“I just knew they couldn’t beat me on that route,” Flowers said. “I knew I had to sneak past him.”

Flowers dodged a block by the Jets’ tight end and stepped in front of Stuckey. Then Flowers was gone, and for a moment the Chiefs thought their young cornerback had given them a victory.

“I can’t take all the credit,” Flowers said, an attempt at humility.

Surtain had fallen to the turf during that play; he hurt his quadriceps and didn’t return. But he heard the crowd go silent, and Surtain rolled over to watch Flowers run until he stopped at the back of New York’s end zone.

Then Favre found Laveranues Coles with about a minute left for the winning touchdown. The Chiefs lost another one, three in a row now and 15 of their last 16 games. But for once, one of those losses included something encouraging — one of the Chiefs’ draft picks who matched his potential.

“They came his way,” Surtain said, “and he made them pay. That’s the kind of player we know he is."

chiefbowe82
10-26-2008, 10:01 PM
the one pic he pretty much fielded a punt the second pick makes me think brett is colorblind but nonetheless, he's doing well