Rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh fined $15k for hit on Jay Cutler
Ndamukong Suh is the monster in the closet that quarterbacks have nightmares about and he is still a rookie. He leads all rookie defenders and all defensive tackles in the league with 8 sacks to his credit so far in the season. He is leading the defensive
rookie of the year race.
The Lions are still doing terribly but Suh gives the Lions’ defence a much needed jolt. His ferociousness has earned him fame and infamy at the same time. He is a feared defender but he is also attracting quite a bit of unnecessary attention from the league
and the officials.
On Wednesday Suh was fined for the second time in this season for a hit on Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. The play drew a questionable unnecessary-roughness penalty and later a $15,000 fine from the league. In the fourth quarter of the Lions VS Bears
game this Sunday, Suh clobbered Cutler at the end of an 8 yard rush. The referee thought that the hit on the quarterback was an ‘unnecessary non-football act’, whatever that means. Lions Coach Jim Schwartz at least does not know what that means. “I've not
seen a definition of 'non-football act' before.”
Suh has said that he would appeal the fine. He said that all he wanted to do was play as hard as he could for his team and the fans. “At that particular point in time and throughout that game, all I was trying to do was play as hard as I can. As Cutler was
trying to make a play, I was trying to make a play.” He said that the Lions were in tough red zone situation and Suh had to somehow stop Cutler from making the touchdown. He added that the penalty and even the fine did not bother him much.
Jim Schwartz has voiced his support for Suh. Schwartz said the he did not know what to say to Suh and was unable to understand what Suh did wrong. “The quarterback wasn't going down. He was a runner. He was trying to score a touchdown.” He said that the
play was legitimate as it was not a blow to the back of Cutler’s head, nor did it come when Cutler was actually going down. Schwartz isn’t the only one who believes that there was nothing wrong with the play.
The penalty was a questionable call to begin with. It is understandable that in the midst of the action the referee could have blown the call. Referee Ed Hochuli said that he felt Suh’s actions constituted an unnecessary hit to the back of the helmet while
Cutler was already going down. Slow motion replays show that Hochuli is wrong on both counts. But mistakes are made on the field.
Suh didn’t hit the back of Cutler’s helmet. He actually shoved his back. Suh’s monstrous strength meant that Cutler’s head whiplashed back but the fact of the matter is that Suh did not even touch Cutler’s helmet. How could the league possibly fail to notice
that in the replays, before they decided to fine Suh for a shove during a play, is just baffling.
The League has said that it would be stricter with repeat offenders. Suh had come under the league’s spotlight even before the regular season began. In the preseason he was fined $7,500 for a facemask penalty on quarterback Jake Delhomme. That was different
though. In college football that was a play that Suh routinely made and was never penalized for. That is college football. The NFL does things differently and Suh has been quick to catch on. But shoving a running quarterback to take him down is not something
that is illegal or even questionable.
The Lions lead the NFL in number of penalties and this is Suh’s fourth personal-foul penalty. The League’s actions appear to be driven by a culture of profiling and face saving. The league is desperate to appear tough on dangerous plays but it is clearly
overdoing it.
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