49ers must be sure to stop these 3 Lions stars on Sunday
By Peter Panacy
49ers Opponent No. 2: EDGE Trey Flowers
He might have turned into something of a forgotten star defender ever since leaving the New England Patriots.
But if there’s one defensive player the 49ers should worry about, at least when it comes to getting to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the pass-rush department, it’s EDGE Trey Flowers.
Flowers had a frustrating 2020 campaign where he only saw action in seven games and was limited to a mere two sacks, quite the downfall from the seven he recorded during his first year in Detroit back in 2019.
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Still, Flowers just turned 28 years old and remains in the prime of his career. He’s a defensive threat, if only one of a few the Lions have.
It’s likely Detroit will try lining Flowers up on the strong side of the formation opposite Niners right tackle Mike McGlinchey, whose pass-protection woes from 2020 hopefully halted during the offseason.
If not, that’s a one-on-one matchup the Lions will want to exploit as much as possible, and it could potentially be the one major setback San Francisco will have to endure against Detroit’s otherwise questionable pass rush.