The Washington Commanders head north on Saturday to face the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in the divisional playoff round. After defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium last Sunday, the Commanders are amped up and ready to take on their next foe.
However, their next foe is formidable. The Lions ended the regular season at the very top of the NFL, earning themselves a bye for Wild Card Weekend. The Commanders would love to give themselves a leg up this weekend by stealing offensive tackle Penei Sewell to suit up in burgundy and gold.
Now, this wasn’t an easy choice because it’s hard to ignore Jahmyr Gibbs’s game-changing ability. However, Jayden Daniels wouldn’t be the Commanders’ leading rusher if he didn’t get flushed out of the pocket so often. Sewell is a much better option in this game because quarterback protection is a must against a team as complete as the Lions.
If the Commanders could actually acquire Sewell, even for one game, they’d have two options: Put him at right tackle or move Brandon Coleman to right tackle and line Sewell up on the left. Andrew Wylie has struggled of late, so he would take a back seat in this instance.
Since he was drafted in 2021, Sewell has not missed a single game. He has taken every single snap for the Lions over the last two season, and Jared Goff has been one of the least-sacked quarterbacks in the NFL. As Goff isn’t much of a scrambler, this highlights the offensive line strength in Detroit.
The Commanders would love to have that same protection for Daniels, even though he is a capable runner, he shouldn’t have to put that kind of strain on his body on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the Commanders can’t actually steal Sewell from the Lions, but it would be really cool if they could!