Just because they could, just because they felt like it, the Lions finished off the Vikings with some flair.
Leading 31-23 out of the two-minute warning and needing a first down to all but seal Sunday's game, the Lions put 335-pound Penei Sewell in motion on third and seven. Sewell got open in the flat, caught a pass from Jared Goff and flopped forward for a first down to put things on ice.
"I don’t think they were ready for that one," Sewell said with a smile. "I was pretty wide open."
The play was designed to be used in the red zone, but the Lions never needed it on another dominant day for their offense. Instead, they broke it out near midfield to help close out their best win of the season. Sewell sold the play like he was going to block on the edge, before slipping outside and flashing his hands. The star right tackle can do it all.
"He’s a phenomenal athlete," said Dan Campbell. "Who knows what kind of tackle he’s going to be, already a pretty dang good one, but he could be a Hall of Fame tight end, too, if he wanted to lose a little bit of weight. He’s got real good hands, he’s got real good feet. We felt like he was going to be wide open, which he was, and we told him to stay in bounds and he did.”
It was the second gutsy move of the day by Campbell, who also called a fake punt on 4th and 8 from his own 26-yard line in the third quarter that resulted in a 42-yard gain by C.J. Moore and extended a drive that yielded a touchdown.
Asked what it says about Campbell that he's willing to take such risks, Sewell tried to bite his tongue -- "Wow, I was about to say something bad," he said -- before speaking the truth.
"Dude’s got some nuts on him, bro, simple as that. I couldn’t find another word," said Sewell. "Dan Campbell’s gonna be him and nobody's gonna change that, and that’s what I love about him."
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