Penei Sewell was one of the Lions' best players in Week 3, per usual. But it took him until Tuesday morning to forget about his only mistake in Detroit's loss to the Vikings, a whiffed block when Jamaal Williams was stuffed on 4th and 1 in the fourth quarter.
"That one killed me after the game," Sewell said Wednesday. "That was all on me. There was nothing for Jamaal to do with it. It was on me and I gotta be better than that. I know this for sure: the next opportunity that I get, I’ma make it happen."
The play may have been doomed either way. The entire right side of Detroit's offensive line broke down. But that doesn't matter to Sewell, the sturdy right tackle who's used to doing his job. He did it well when the Lions converted a pair of 4th and 1's earlier in the game, but that doesn't matter to him either: the Lions lost and Sewell felt responsible, because he came up short when his job mattered most.
Sewell has played nearly flawless football to start his second season with the Lions. He's paved the way for a rushing attack that leads the NFL in yards per carry -- just like the O-line said it would -- and keyed an offense that ranks second in points per game. He's been the best right tackle in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. Think that matters to him?
"Not really," he said. "I don’t really pay attention to PFF and all they got to say. All that matters is what Coach Campbell and Coach Hank (Fraley) say to me."
So how would the NFL's best right tackle assess his own play thus far?
"Meh," said Sewell.
"I gotta do better. There’s a lot of technique, a lot of things that goes into it that I gotta be better at," he said. Asked for particulars, he said he prefers to keep that "between me and coach Hank."
Sewell is a rare specimen at 6'5, 330 lbs, because he moves like someone much lighter. Fellow Lions tackle Dan Skipper, who's played for six different teams over his six-year career, said Sewell is "as athletic as anyone I've ever been around." He said he shouldn't be able to do the things he does, certainly not with such ease. But Sewell is a different beast.
"You watch Penei Sewell and what he’s doing in this league right now, it’s scary," former offensive lineman and NFL insider Brian Baldinger said in a film review on Twitter. "Guy is a freak."
Baldinger highlighted those 4th and 1 conversions against the Vikings. On the first, Sewell plowed his way through a defensive tackle and then picked off a linebacker in the second level to set up a five-yard rush by Jamaal Williams. And on the second, Sewell chopped down two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter to set up a 17-yard pass to Josh Reynolds.
"This is like veteran Trent Williams type stuff, and this kid is in his second season," said Baldinger. "Penei Sewell is a rising star, an absolute physical freak."
Williams might be the best offensive tackle of his generation, a nine-time Pro Bowler and a future Hall of Famer. Sewell is just starting out. The Lions have a special player on their hands in the former seventh overall pick, not that Sewell's early success matters to him at all.
"There’s always a next level that you can tap into," he said. "There's always a next standard that you can reach."
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