Penei Sewell turned 22 years old on Sunday. The Lions right tackle spent the day in the trenches battling against the New England Patriots, who made it an unhappy birthday with a 29-0 drubbing of Sewell’s Lions.
This week’s film spotlight review focuses on the birthday boy. Sewell entered the game as the NFL’s top-graded right tackle per Pro Football Focus. His precociousness is defied by Sewell’s very quick ascent into the upper echelon of offensive tackles in just his second season.
Yet Sunday was not his best game.
As we’ve done in past weeks, I went through both the broadcast feed and the coach’s film and focused on Sewell.
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I go through and assign a simple plus or minus for each play, based on Sewell’s execution and effectiveness. Not every play earns a plus or minus. I also apply my understanding of watching the Lions offensive concepts and practices to help gauge if Sewell did the right thing or not on a play.
Sewell played right tackle on all 66 Lions offensive snaps. He earned 24 plusses and 11 minuses, but some of those minuses came at very bad times.
The first drive was pretty emblematic of Sewell’s day. He earned two plusses for run blocks, moving his blocking mark and creating running room. But Sewell earned a fat minus on the final play, a 4th-and-1 where Patriots DT Christian Barmore whipped him with an inside swim move right into RB Jamaal Williams. If Sewell wins that block, Williams almost certainly gets the first down.
The Lions’ third offensive possession is another where Sewell was really great–until he wasn’t. He earned four plusses on the first six plays, including two combo blocks Sewell executed with textbook precision.
Alas, Sewell also picked up a critical minus on a play where Matthew Judon beat him cleanly with a sweet inside-out rip and quickly turns the corner before No. 58 could recover.
D-II studs Matthew Judon (@gvsufootball) on strip-sack and Kyle Duggar (@LRBearsFootball) on scoop-and-score. Ballers can be found at any level. pic.twitter.com/fLbIXNBWBc
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) October 9, 2022
Of the 24 plusses, 15 came on run plays. He had three minuses on run plays. Sewell was on the hook for the above sack, but also three other pressures on QB Jared Goff. That leaves nine plusses and eight minuses on passing plays, and that’s not a good ratio for a tackle.
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