Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions draw ire of Green Bay Packers after second Suh stomp

The Detroit Lions got a small dose of K-A-R-M-A this afternoon, when the NFL Review Board handed down a weighted one-game suspension to Ndamukong Suh, after the “twice-is-not-nice” stepping incident on Sunday afternoon.

In normal day-to-day settings, this wouldn’t be the issue it’s being made out to be. In an NFL game with spiked cleats? It’s the sort of things that removes players from the game.

During the fourth quarter of a Packers 30-20 win over the Lions in a winner-takes-all showdown for the NFC North Division title and a first round bye in the playoffs, Suh knocked Rodgers to the turf after a zip-line pass to Randall Cobb, and preceded to back up on to his injured calf … twice.

In normal day-to-day settings, this wouldn’t be the issue it’s being made out to be. In an NFL game with spiked cleats? It’s the sort of things that removes players from the game.

Last week, Lions starting center Dominic Raiola learned the value of a dirty play by earning a one-game suspension that lasted through the week 17 tilt with the Packers.

The Chicago Bear defensive end, Ego Ferguson, was on the receiving end of a malicious stomp and had to exit the contest.

Ndamukong Suh will miss the Detroit Lions’ first playoff game since 1991 when his team travels to Dallas to take on the Cowboys Sunday. Raymond T. Rivard photograph

This week it’s Suh – a repeat (and repeat) offender in his short tenure in the NFL. Since 2010, Suh has garnished 7 hefty fines and even a two-game suspension back in 2011 for a Thanksgiving Day stomp on the arm of then-Packers center, Evan-Dietrich Smith.

After spiking Dietrich-Smith on Thanksgiving Day, kicking then-Texans QB Matt Schaub in the groin, and countless other safety-related incidents – the NFL showed the dirty Lion that it will not tolerate his shenanigans any longer.

After Rodgers had left and re-entered the game with a re-aggravated calf injury, Suh took advantage of the situation by stepping back on Rodgers as he lay defenseless on the ground. One step back – on to Rodgers’ foot (which could have been unintentional).

A second step back – on to Rodgers injured calf/leg and weight shifting completely onto it, no one can dismiss as “not knowing.” You know when you step on something foreign, and even if you made the mistake … one would generally look startled to find a 6-2 NFL all-star underfoot.

No, Jim Caldwell, Lions teammates and supporters, Suh himself cannot say anything that would make this egregious act seem like a case of accidental stepping. The history of it all says otherwise and what we are now seeing to be true: history will continue to repeat itself.

A one-game suspension is a big deal to the Lions, who are in the thick of a playoff scuffle with six other worthy NFC candidates. They travel to Dallas this Sunday in the Wild Card matchup, and will be doing it without their star defensive front-man.

Suh is the glue that holds the Lions defensive front together, and will be sorely missed against a team boasting the running threat of MVP candidate, Demarco Murray.

The Lions would be smart to part ways with Suh this offseason, as he is going to become a free agent. The firing of Jim Schwartz and the new hire of mild-mannered Caldwell would suggest that the Detroit Lions are trying to move away from their “dirty” reputation and toward a new era of respectable football.

However, as long as Suh is their centerpiece, nothing will truly change.

For now, however, the Green Bay Packers can be justified in the fact that the NFL powers-that-be are laying down the law in Detroit.

It doesn’t seem like much – just one game – but it will be the game that ends the Lions’ Super Bowl hopes and (hopefully) sends the Dallas Cowboys packing for a white winter at Lambeau.