Ndamukong Suh’s Dirty Antics, Suspension Hurt Lions’ Playoff Chances

Ndamukong Suh’s history of infantile behavior has come back to cost him and the Detroit Lions.

Suh was suspended Monday for one game after he stomped on the ankle of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers during Detroit’s loss Sunday in its regular-season finale. That means one of the Lions’ premier defensive playmakers will be sidelined for the team’s most important game of the season.

Nobody is happier about Suh’s absence than the interior offensive linemen for the Dallas Cowboys, whom the Lions travel to play Sunday in the first round of the NFC playoffs. As former NFL linebacker Brady Poppinga writes on FootballbyFootball.com, Suh is hurting his own team a lot more than he hurt Rodgers’ ankle.

“Suh has flirted with being one of the best,” Poppinga writes. “Even though he faces double- and triple-teams each week, he still is averaging over seven sacks a season from a true defensive tackle position. … But his play between the whistles isn’t the problem. It’s his actions after the whistle that makes it appear that Suh is more of a burden than a benefit.”

Unfortunately for the Lions, they can’t direct Suh to follow the lead of a more professional teammate, Poppinga notes, as longer-tenured teammate Dominic Raiola is just as juvenile in his antics.

Read more about how Suh’s actions are hurting the Lions >> 

Thumbnail photo via Raj Mehta/USA TODAY Sports Images