NFL reviewing Ndamukong Suh's illegal block against Vikings

Ndamukong Suh committed yet another dumb penalty versus the Vikings. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) There's no question that the Detroit Lions have enough

Doug Farrar | Sep 8, 2013

NFL reviewing Ndamukong Suh's illegal block against Vikings /

Ndamukong Suh committed yet another dumb penalty versus the Vikings. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

There's no question that the Detroit Lions have enough talent on both sides of the ball to be a real threat in the NFC North, but often, they present the biggest threat to themselves. Over the last few seasons, Jim Schwartz's football team has been well-known for dumb penalties and strange personal fouls, and it was more of the same in the first half of the Lions' 2013 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.

With 14:09 left in the second quarter, Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder threw a pick to Detroit outside linebacker DeAndre Levy, who appeared to take it to the house for a touchdown. However, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh -- who has spent his entire NFL career playing on that fine line between clever and stupid -- negated the score when he put a clearly illegal block on Minnesota center John Sullivan. On Monday morning, NFL spokesman Randall Liu confirmed in an email to The Associated Press that Suh may face league discipline for the block. (Watch the full play below.)

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It's not as if Suh was unaware of the league's increased focus on blocks below the knee -- the NFL made it a point of focus in the offseason, and made it illegal for cut blocks in the tackle box.

Suh's "block" seemed especially gratuitous and nonsensical because Levy was gaining steam down the right sideline, and Sullivan -- like most centers -- isn't known for his downfield speed.

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"I wasn't by any means going for his knees, and he knows that," Suh said after the game. "We had a great convo about it at halftime, and he understood."

Because of the penalty, the Lions still maintained possession, but at the Vikings' 39-yard line, and for only one play -- Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a pick on the very next down. The Lions went on to win 34-24, but the potential of further discipline for Suh definitely dampens the enthusiasm in Detroit.

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Published Sep 8, 2013

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.