National Football League

Without Suh, Lions embracing 'next man up' mantra

Published Dec. 30, 2014 10:45 a.m. ET

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The popular phrase around the NFL when a team loses a top player is "Next Man Up."

It's not, however, "Next All-Pro Up."

That's the problem for the Detroit Lions as they prepare for Sunday's playoff game at Dallas. The Lions have to somehow replace their most dominant player, the superstar in the middle of a defensive line that has carried this team all season.

In what's become a controversial decision handed down by the NFL, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was suspended Monday for one game after stepping on Green Bay's star quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the final regular-season game.

Suh naturally has appealed the ruling, but these types of suspensions are almost never overturned by the league.

What's more, the Lions are still expected to be without their other standout defensive tackle, Nick Fairley, who has missed the last eight games with a knee injury and doesn't appear ready to return yet barring a "miracle," according to coach Jim Caldwell.

What's interesting is that the Lions were 7-point underdogs to the Cowboys before Suh's suspension came down.

And, despite the line moving to 7 1/2 for a while Monday, they were back to 7-point 'dogs Tuesday morning.

That's somewhat surprising because while this defensive line has shown impressive depth throughout the season, being without Suh, along with Fairley, severely weakens what has been the Lions' greatest asset.

"We've got to trust in Next Man Up," receiver Golden Tate said. "We can't feel sorry for ourselves.

"We're going to do whatever it takes. We have a great coaching staff. We have enough playmakers. We're going to go out there and find a way."

Suh will experience this week exactly what center Dominic Raiola went through last week when he was suspended for a similar act.

Raiola called it "probably one of the more difficult weeks of my life."

He worked out on his own at a Lifetime Fitness gym because he wasn't allowed per NFL rules to be around the Lions' facility.

Having to watch his teammates lose the division title to the Packers was really tough.

"It was a bad dream, but it was real," Raiola said. "I just really had to put in my head that we had another week."

If the Lions lose in Dallas, Suh won't have another week.

In fact, he might have played his final game as a Lion because he's going to be a free agent after the season and could, probably will, end up elsewhere.

Some will say that Suh, like Raiola, let down his teammates, coaches and, really, the entire Lions' fan base.

"If I did it on purpose, if I did it selfishly, I would have felt that way," Raiola said.

Despite what the replays seemed to show rather clearly, Raiola still maintains that his stomp on a Chicago player's leg wasn't intentional.

Raiola feels the same way about the latest Suh incident.

"He (Suh) wasn't even looking at him (Rodgers)," Raiola said. "He was getting pushed back a little (by a Green Bay player).

"There's no way at that point in the game he (Suh) did something like that on purpose."

The Lions have been put in a tough spot to try to win a playoff game, especially on the road. It was certainly a dumb move by Suh, who has a reputation for being a dirty player and isn't going to get the benefit of the doubt anymore.

Some neutral experts, however, believe the league is at fault here, too.

FOX rules analyst Mike Pereira, a former vice president of officiating for the NFL, has been highly critical of the decision to hand down a suspension in this case.

Pereira referred to it as "piling on Suh."

"If I'm the Lions, I'm really upset about this," Pereira said. "If it's someone else stepping on a lesser-known quarterback, there would be no suspension."

Pereira went on to say that Suh's hit three weeks ago on Tampa Bay quarterback Josh McCown "was much worse ... and he didn't even draw a fine for that."

"Pretty inconsistent discipline process coming out of New York in my opinion," Pereira added.

A bunch of seemingly "no-names" -- at least compared to Suh -- will have to try to make up for his absence.

It will be impossible for C.J. Mosley or Andre Fluellen or Caraun Reid or Jason Jones to replace Suh, who constantly created opportunities for teammates because of all the attention that opponents paid to him.

"We can't really replace that," Jones admitted.

But they're going to do whatever they can to make it work. Maybe collectively they will deliver the way Tate did when Johnson was out on offense.

"We're like Yahtzee," defensive lineman Darryl Tapp said of the D-line's depth.

Yahtzee?

"Just throw four out there," Tapp said. "We make it happen. Whoever goes in there is going to make plays."

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