Tag: Ndamukong Suh (Page 6 of 12)

      Will the Lions ever stop torturing their fans?

      November 7, 2010 /

      Following yet another heartbreaking loss on yet another heartbreaking Sunday, my buddy Drew (a longtime Lions fan) said to me on the phone, “It’s almost like someone back in the day made a deal with the devil in order for the Lions go to the playoffs or something and now the rest of us have to live in misery for the rest of our lives.”

      Well said…and, ouch.

      The Lions had their third victory in their grasp on Sunday against the Jets. They led 20-10 with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and even after the Jets scored to make it 20-17 with 2:46 on the clock, Detroit was still in control.

      Of course, they had no kicker and Drew Stanton as their quarterback so I use the term “in control” loosely.

      In more misery for Lion fans, Matthew Stafford re-injured his right shoulder in the fourth quarter and was replaced by Stanton. Earlier in the game, the Lions had rookie first round pick Ndamukong Suh (a defensive tackle, mind you) kicking extra points because Jason Hanson injured his knee. He later returned to kick an extra point later in the game, but who knows what Hanson’s availability would have been if the Lions needed to attempt a long field goal in overtime.

      So there the Lions were, ready to collapse and once again shank their fan base. Stanton and the offense failed to pick up a first down and run out the clock, so the Jets took over and immediately drove down the field to kick the game-tying field goal. In overtime, Mark Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes on a 52-yard pass play to set up a Nick Folk 30-yard field game just 2:18 into the extra period.

      The come-from-behind victory was crucial for the Jets, who rebounded after they were embarrassed by the Packers lat week in New York. It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was key on a day in which the Patriots also lost.

      But for the Lions and their fans, the loss was yet another painful reminder of how doomed their franchise is. Jim Schwartz’s team has been in virtually every game this year but only have two wins to show for their efforts. Nobody expected Detroit to be good this season, but the way the Lions have toyed with their fans this year has been rough. At least when they were getting blown out in years past, fans didn’t have to watch the entire game in order to know what the final result would be.

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 8 MVP, COY and ROY Power Rankings

      November 7, 2010 /


      It’s getting tougher and tougher, isn’t it? I’m glad the people who actually vote for these categories can do it at the end of the season, but they can’t possibly have this much fun trying to pick the winners from week to week. With that, here are our Week 8 power rankings…..

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Manning’s stats have been consistent all season, but the fact that his Colts are now 5-2 and firmly in place to win another AFC South crown and possibly much more, you just can’t ignore him.

      2. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—With or without Randy Moss, Brady gets it done, and he has less to work with now than he has in a while. Not to mention, he has to carry a less-than-stellar (by New England standards) defense this year.

      3. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—Matthews now leads the NFL with 10 sacks through seven games, and he has 27 tackles, one stuff, one forced fumble and one pass deflected. More than that, he helped pitch a shutout of the Jets last week. The dude is just sick.

      3 (tie). Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Go outside. Throw a football up in the air as high as you can throw it. Before you watch the ball hit the ground, Roddy White will have appeared out of nowhere to catch it. That’s how good this dude is.

      Honorable mention: Ahmad Bradshaw, New York Giants; Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers; LaDainian Tomlinson, New York Jets; Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers; Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants; Arian Foster, Houston Texans; James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers; Jerod May, New England Patriots, Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos; Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions

      Coach of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—Last season, the Bucs were 3-13 and just flat-out awful. This season, they have almost doubled their win total through seven games (5-2) and Morris has them believing they are the best team in the NFC. It doesn’t matter if he’s right, it just matters that they believe, and thanks to Morris, it looks like they do.

      2. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—If the Chiefs win Sunday against the Raiders, they and their fans can start talking about an AFC West title. Just like Morris, this comes after an awful 2009 campaign (4-12).

      3. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—I’m sorry to continue to back my guy, but even though the Giants had a bye last week, it’s still incredible that Coughlin brought his team from 1-2 and dead in the gutter to the class of the NFC (sorry, Raheem) with four straight convincing wins.

      Honorable mention: Tom Cable, Oakland Raiders; Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans, Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks;; Rex Ryan, New York Jets; Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles, Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams; Bill Belichick, New England Patriots; Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons; Tom Cable, Oakland Raiders; Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers

      Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—The kid is putting up average numbers (1674 yards, 11 TDs, 8 picks), but the Rams are a respectable 4-4 and challenging for a division title, and they are led by this dude. Who would have thought?

      2. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—This rather large man is just a beast—a man-beast if you will—in the middle. When was the last time the Lions had a guy like that? And he’s leading all linebackers in the NFL with 7 sacks.

      3. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—Yeah, the Cowboys aren’t very good this year. But this kid is one reason to watch them play.

      Honorable mention: Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions; Max Hall, Arizona Cardinals; Rolando McClain, Oakland Raiders; Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 7 MVP, COY and ROY power rankings

      October 31, 2010 /

      Raise your hand if you can figure out this NFL season. Yeah, that’s what I thought. A few hands went up in Pittsburgh, a couple in New England, and a few more in New York/New Jersey. Choosing players and coaches who might be in line for postseason awards is even more difficult to grasp, but we’ll give it another shot here….


      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—His team is 4-2 and a contender in the tough AFC. But more than that, Manning leads the NFL with a 103.4 QB rating—319.3 yards per game passing, 13 touchdown passes and just 2 picks. The guy is once again dominant, and he’ll continue to make life miserable for opposing coordinators.

      2. Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—The Falcons are 5-2 and one of the top teams in a wide-open NFC, and this guy is probably the biggest reason why. He busted on to this list by catching 11 passes for 201 yards and 2 scores against Cincinnati last Sunday—a whopping 18.3 yards per catch. I’m really not sure how you defend this dude, who keeps making us open our mouths wide with some acrobatic grabs and pure athleticism.

      3. Ahmad Bradshaw, New York Giants—Don’t look now, but the NFL has a new leading rusher (708 yards). He’s short (listed as 5’9” but probably more like 5’8” with a heel lift), and extremely hard to bring down. Now that he’s healthy and listed as the starter for the 5-2 Giants, Bradshaw is taking over, running behind a good O-line, but also making plays happen in the open field himself, and making guys twice his size miss. If he could only just stop fumbling (four times in seven games)….

      Honorable mention: Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers; Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers; Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles; LaDainian Tomlinson, New York Jets; Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers; Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants; Arian Foster, Houston Texans; James Harrison, Pittsburgh Steelers; Jerod May, New England Patriots

      Coach of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers—Sure, the Steelers got lucky with that fumble-non-recovery thing against Miami last week. But Mike Tomlin has his team ranked at or near the top in everyones’ power rankings. The man knows how to win, no matter who is under center—but with Big Ben there, and with a healthy Polamalu and another defender (James Harrison) who almost retired because the league told him to stop hitting guys so hard, there isn’t a doubt anywhere that the Steelers will go deep into the postseason.

      2. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—I’m gonna be a homer here, but you can’t not give credit to a coach who brings his team off of life support after three games, and then has them on top of the NFC by winning four straight. This, despite a team that ranks near the bottom of the NFL with a minus-five turnover differential—thanks to 10 fumbles lost and 11 picks. And also despite all those Bill Cowher rumors a month ago. The bottom line? The players have his back, and the defense is now playing lights-out under first-year coordinator Perry Fewell.

      3. Jeff Fisher, Tennessee Titans—At some point you just have to bring Fisher, the longest tenured NFL coach, into the conversation, because he brings his team to play every week. Last season, the Titans started 0-6 and ended up 8-8 and almost in the playoffs. This year, his feisty bunch is 5-2 and in first place in the AFC South. They’re never out of any game no matter who is at QB, and Chris Johnson hasn’t even begun to catch fire yet.

      Honorable mention: Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks; Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs; Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs; Rex Ryan, New York Jets; Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles, Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams; Bill Belichick, New England Patriots; Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons.

      Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—I’m just glad my Giants won that game on Monday night, because this dude almost stole the show all by himself with three touchdowns—2 receiving and 1 on a punt return. He’s ridiculously explosive and has all-around scary talent. I mean, is it too early to call Dez a future Hall of Famer? Probably, but in 15 years, don’t forget that I just said that.

      2. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Opposing offenses were able to breathe easy last week with this beast on bye. Today, Donovan McNabb will get to know him a bit better.

      3. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—Even last week in a losing effort, two of Sam’s 13 completions were for touchdowns, and he’s on pace for 20 TD tosses. Not bad for a rookie.

      Honorable mention: Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions; Max Hall, Arizona Cardinals; Rolando McClain, Oakland Raiders; Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 6 MVP, COY and ROY Power Rankings

      October 24, 2010 /

      Every week we have different candidates here, because the 2010 NFL season has been wacky. And that’s okay, as it makes ranking MVP, Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year candidates more fun. Anyway, here we go….

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Okay, so Philip Rivers and Kyle Orton have more yards per game, but they play for 2-4 teams. Manning’s Colts are 4-2, and check out these numbers through six games—1916 yards, 67.3 completion percentage, 319.3 yards per game, 13 touchdowns (leads NFL) and just 2 interceptions, for a QB rating of 103.4. As usual, Manning sort of defines what the term MVP is all about.

      2. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—I heard someone on NFL Network the other day call Matthews the “best defensive player in the NFL.” Not bad for a linebacker in his second year, who was selected after 25 other players in the 2009 draft. Anyway, Matthews has 9 sacks to lead the NFL, and 21 tackles through five games…and the Packers sorely missed him last Sunday in a loss to Miami when Matthews sat out with a hamstring injury.

      3. Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers—We’re leaving Antonio on here this week because he left the game against the Rams last Sunday with an ankle injury, leaving Philip Rivers without his favorite target. And then the Chargers lost the game. To the Rams. Gates only had 2 catches for 12 yards in that one, but on the season he still has 31 receptions for 490 yards and 7 TDs (which leads all tight ends and receivers).

      Honorable mention: Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles (thanks to Kevin Kolb’s performance last Sunday, Vick got bumped off the list); LaDainian Tomlinson, New York Jets; Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos; Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos; Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers; Osi Umenyiora, New York Giants; Arian Foster, Houston Texans

      Coach of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers—If you start the season without your star quarterback for four games, and have the likes of Charlie Batch, Dennis Dixon, and Byron Leftwich at the helm, coming out of that 2-2 would be a huge moral victory. Well, Tomlin came out of that stretch 3-1 and it could have been 4-0 if not for that last-gasp drive by Joe Flacco and the Ravens a few weeks ago. Of course, the D led by a healthy Troy Polamalu and hard-hitting-to-a-fault James Harrison, has helped, but let’s give Tomlin some huge and well-deserved props here.

      2. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Has anyone noticed that the Rams are 3-3, having already equaled their win total from 2008 and 2009 combined. And they’re giving up less than 19 points per game after allowing 27 per game last year—something that has much to do with the Rams’ defensive whiz of a coach.

      3. Tom Coughlin, New York Giants—How do you go from the scorching hot hot seat to a coach of the year nomination? Ask Tom Coughlin, who the New York media had being replaced by Bill Cowher a few weeks ago when they lost badly to the Colts, and then beat themselves badly in a loss the Titans at home. The Giants rallied around Coughlin and squashed the previously unbeaten Bears, then crushed the upstart Texans in Houston 34-10, before not allowing the dreaded trap game against Detroit ruin his team’s winning streak. So from 1-2 to 4-2, and tied with the Eagles for the division lead. That’s why Tom Coughlin is on here.

      Honorable mention: Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks; Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs; Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs; Rex Ryan, New York Jets; Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles

      Rookie of the Year Power Rankings

      1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Suh leads all NFL defensive tackles with 5 sacks, and he also has 21 tackles through six games, plus an interception—a pretty rare feat for a DT. Is there any doubt that this young big man is the real deal?

      2. Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions—Injury may have slowed Best down, but how about the fact that to go along with 249 rushing yards, Best has 31 catches for a league-high 285 receiving yards among running backs. That’s 534 all-purpose yards through six games.

      3. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—He’s way down the list of quarterbacks stat-wise, but Bradford is averaging 226 yards per game and has 7 TD passes. We’ll let the 8 picks slide for now, because let’s face it—the kid is helping to lead the Rams to respectability.

      Honorable mention: Max Hall, Arizona Cardinals; Rolando McClain, Oakland Raiders; Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys; Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati Bengals

      External Sports, NFL

      NFL Week 5 MVP, COY and ROY power rankings

      October 17, 2010 /

      You think it’s hard to predict the games and standings from week to week? Try picking MVP candidates. There are five or six different candidates emerging every week. We’ll do this as one post again today and start separating them out next week. And I’m sure by this time Tuesday everything will be turned upside down again. Enjoy the games today everyone!

      MVP Power Rankings

      1. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—He didn’t play last week and yet the Eagles still won, but barely, on the road in San Fran. Against a team that still hasn’t won a game yet. And hence my case is made again. And when Kolb and the Eagles lose at home to the Falcons today, fans in Philly will be chanting Vick’s name, which will have made my case again.

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