Passes to linemen aren't supposed to happen. Dudes who weigh 300-plus pounds shouldn't be able to catch passes, return kicks or simply run as fast as they sometimes can. It's the perfect way to fool a defense, and it happens every NFL and college football season.
In the Detroit Lions' 34-23 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, the Lions drew up a play that belongs in the vaunted Big Man Hall of Fame. Even better, it all but put the game away against their NFC North rival.
Lions Run Trick Play Using 335-Pound Penei Sewell
No. 58 reports as an eligible receiver. No. 58 is an eligible receiver.@peneisewell58 #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/DiihvbkkeS
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 11, 2022
They really sent @peneisewell58 in motion ?
?: #MINvsDET on FOX
?: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/RvZfbqafel pic.twitter.com/0YTFlHnPxS— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2022
Look, I'll call anything that results in 335-pound tackle Penei Sewell catching a pass a trick play. Really, it's just using the athletic big man as a tight end.
But when No. 58 was in motion to the right on third-and-7 with two minutes left in the game, the Vikings' defense still had no idea the pass was coming to him. Sewell got wide open for the easy first down after a swift dive past the first-down marker.
It was truly beautiful, and the best part is the play was never supposed to be run.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he was distracted by noisy fans doing the wave and couldn't hear offensive coordinator Ben Johnson calling the play that used Sewell as a receiver.
"I'm so focused on the wave, and I said, 'Yeah, that's fine.' And I look up, and we're throwing it to Penei, and I'm like, 'What the f—- are we doing?'" Campbell said on the Pat McAfee Show.
Dan Campbell was distracted by #Lions fans doing the wave that he couldn?t hear OC Ben Johnson calling a pass to Penei Sewell on 3rd-and-7.
"I look up and we're throwing to Penei and I was like, 'what the f*** are we doing?!?" ??
(via @PatMcAfeeShow)pic.twitter.com/QFnJ4bQce8
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 13, 2022
Sewell's game-sealing reception went for 9 yards. That's 9 more yards than Vikings wide receiver and 2020 first-rounder Jalen Reagor had all game (although Sewell needed 214 more yards to catch Justin Jefferson in the game). But it felt fitting that Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson watched Sewell make the play from the sideline after he was traded from Detroit.
TJ Hockenson really had to sit on the opposing sideline as Penei Sewell played TE for the Detroit Lions
— Chris Perfett (@chrisperfett) December 11, 2022
Campbell and the Lions' coaching staff clearly have guts, something I'm sure they'll keep bringing to the rest of their games.
