Suh Suspension Rescinded Will Play Against Dallas

The Detroit Lions all breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday night when Ndamukong Suh won his suspension appeal. Lions head coach Jim Caldwell was asked a number of ways what it would be like not to have Suh on the defense.

Caldwell said he would prefer not to find out. After Suh stepped twice on the leg of Aaron Rodgers the Green Bay star quarterback, and earned a suspension of one game, Caldwell learned on Monday what it would be like to devise a game plan minus Suh, and that was not something he liked.

However, when Ted Cottrell the NFL appeals officer overturned the suspension, the Lions and especially Caldwell, will not have to find out what life would have been without Suh just yet.

What Suh did in the game was worthy of a fine, even some Detroit players said the same.

However, suspending Suh seemed too much and Cottrell felt the same way. Cottrell fined Suh $70,000, which will be more than Suh will earn in the wildcard game this weekend versus Dallas.

Another player might have escaped even a fine and been given the benefit of the doubt, but Suh has used that up in incidents that have taken place prior to Sunday.

Due to prior incidents, the question of Suh’s intent was very difficult to answer. However, Suh showing up on Tuesday in New York to make the appeal before Cottrell likely was very helpful.

Suh was helped too by an NFL rules provision that wipes the slate clean of the fines he has incurred if he plays 32 games and does not incur a penalty for player-safety.

Suh was lucky in that situation. He was fined on two occasions in 2013 for issues of player safety but one was rescinded so it meant he qualified as a first time offender of the penalty under the rules of the league. That likely was the biggest break for Detroit.

The way most of the Detroit players were vociferous in defense of Suh on Monday spoke volumes in his favor. He fellow defensive players insisted Suh is a changed player for the one who was consistently being fined during his the first part of his career.

Only two plays the entire season were questionable for Suh this season.

His teammates told anyone that would listen that the new Suh would not maliciously step on the ankle and calf of Rodgers on two occasions without looking back or down to see what took place.

The NFL initially said he did.

However, the league’s appeal officer saw it different. That means Detroit will visit Dallas with its top-rated defense against the run intact versus the league’s top rusher in DeMarco Murray.