Penei Sewell Got Sacked Before He Allowed A Sack This Season

The Detroit Lions have been the best team in the NFC this season, thanks in part to one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the league. Detroit is built inside out, relying on arguably the best offensive line in football to pave the way for their two-headed rushing attack with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, with Jared Goff picking defenses apart in the play-action game off that running game.

On top of that, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is about as creative as they come when it comes to dialing up some trickeration, and on Thanksgiving he tried to let his star right tackle, Penei Sewell, shine on the Lions first drive of the game. After picking up a first down to put them just outside the red zone, Sewell lined up at tight end and came around on a reverse, but instead of running it, the big fella was looking to throw it downfield. Unfortunately for Sewell, the Lions, and everyone watching hoping to see some Large Man Excellence, the Bears covered it extremely well and there was nowhere for Sewell to go, with the Bears defense eventually swarming him and pushing him out of bounds — because they could not bring him to the ground.

It’s actually a really good play by Sewell not to force a throw into coverage like most non-QBs would do in that situation, and the fans still went crazy for the play call and for Sewell shrugging off the entire Bears defense to stay on his feet. The craziest part of the whole thing is that Sewell, by losing two yards, took a sack on the play, which means he has taken more sacks this season than he’s given up at right tackle. Sewell came into the game having allowed 0 sacks in more than 700 snaps, per PFF, which is an astonishing stat and a great example of why he’s a perennial All-Pro. Hopefully, this won’t be the last time we see Sewell given the chance to throw the ball cause I want to see him get a chance to let the ball fly.