Lane Johnson adds to his legendary streak with another great performance

There isn’t much that is worth remembering about Chip Kelly’s tenure as Philadelphia Eagles coach, but if we were to identify a few of the silver linings we found in a ton of dark clouds, adding Jeff Stoutland as this team’s offensive line coach was one of them, as was picking up Darren Sproles. They also drafted Zach Ertz and Lane Johnson.

The latter is without question the best right tackle in the game. That has been proven more than once. He simply doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

They say it’s impossible to keep a good man down, and something tells us the home stretch of what has been arguably a Hall of Fame career will carry much of the individual acclaim that has eluded Lane for so long.

Have you heard? Number 65 is enjoying quite an impressive run, one that’s been impossible to ignore.

Lane Johnson continues an impressive streak with another dominant performance for the Eagles versus the Bears in Week 15.

Lane Johnson entered Week 15’s game versus the Chicago Bears having gone 26 games without allowing a sack. That’s an NFL record. On Sunday, he extended his own record.

Another game partially highlighted by Lane’s dominance stretches 65’s streak of games without allowing a sack to 27.

The last time he was beaten was during the Eagles’ Week 11 game versus the Cleveland Browns in 2020. He also suffered a season-ending injury in that one and was inactive one week later versus the Seattle Seahawks before spending Philly’s final five games of the campaign on injured reserve.

Some thought we were beginning to see the decline of what’s been an outstanding career. Let’s just say he’s bounced back nicely.

Though it seems like he should have been voted to more, Lane has seen three Pro Bowl nominations (2017-2019). He should have earned a nod last season. He was snubbed, but hear this and hear it clearly.

If Johnson isn’t on the 2022 Pro Bowl roster, there needs to be an investigation. It’s, at times, mind-boggling when you think about what we witness from this guy on a week-in and week-out basis and that he could be this good and so underrated at the same time. We’re seemingly running out of reasons for why this may be the case, but we’re willing to offer a few guesses as to why this happens.

Maybe part of the issue is the Eagles’ O-line has been so good for so long that he’s been overshadowed by some of his teammates. Maybe he’s been ignored to some degree because he plays the right tackle position (and it’s the left tackles who typically get the love).

We also could argue that he’s been overshadowed by two future Hall of Fame inductees on Philly’s O-line that he’s spent the majority of his career playing with, Jason Peters and Jason Kelce, but let’s be frank. Lane has quietly carved out a Hall of Fame resume of his own.

Sure, again, it seems strange that someone that has Lane Johnson’s resume can be overshadowed by anyone. Still, as good as he’s been, something tells us that he’ll keep his impressive streak going for a while. He won’t be easy to ignore when he does, and as Eagles fans and as huge Jeff Stoutland fans, it’s been a joy to watch the journey.

This young man is a Hall-of-Famer in our book. We can be quoted on that.