DETROIT – An incredible stat from the Detroit Lions' win over the Bears on Thanksgiving shows that one of their stars might be the best player in the NFL.
We all know that Penei Sewell won’t win any MVP awards. No matter how valuable they are, offensive linemen simply don’t get any consideration. But Lions fans know how much Sewell means to their team.
And what happened on Thursday unearthed a stat that is equal parts impressive and hilarious.
Ben Johnson loves a good offensive lineman trick play, and he dialed up another on Thursday. Sewell took the ball on a misdirection pitch from Jared Goff and rolled out to his right to try to throw a touchdown pass.
But all the receivers were covered, so Sewell was forced to tuck the ball and run. It looked like he was going to lose about 5 yards, but he broke a comical number of tackles before being pushed out by four Bears at once.
He only lost about a yard.
The incredible part about the play wasn’t the broken tackles or the viral stiff-arm. It was that it’s the 12th game of the season, and Sewell took a sack as a quarterback before he allowed one as a tackle.
That’s right: Sewell hasn’t allowed a single sack through 12 games. And this is a guy who plays every single offensive snap. That’s insane.
On top of his elite pass protection, Sewell’s athleticism is the reason Johnson tries to dial up so many creative plays. He can get out in space to block on screen passes, catch the football as an eligible receiver, and apparently even throw passes.
There are a lot of great players in the NFL, but Sewell legitimately might be right up there at the top.
