FOX NFL SUNDAY NOTES – 1/4/15
*NOTE: A special 30-minute edition of FOX NFL Sunday aired in advance of today’s Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys NFC Wild Card contest on FOX
Howie Long on Lions’ Suh: “It’s unfortunate that he put himself in this position, because now the narrative is all about Ndamukong Suh the dirty player and not about what a great player Ndamukong Suh really is.”
Terry Bradshaw on Matthew Stafford and the Lions offense: “He has the weapons today… to match up with anything Dallas has.”
Two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Jimmy Johnson agrees with the appeal ruling that Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh not be suspended for today’s Wild Card game against the Dallas Cowboys: “Yes he should be playing. If it was any other player, this would not even be an issue and had they suspended Ndamukong Suh it would have been the Detroit Lions team being penalized and not Suh. And Suh, with a $70,000 fine, that’s nearly triple what he would have lost had he been suspended and not gotten his playoff game check. This is a physical game, it was just a little step and he didn’t see what he was stepping on, he doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head.”
Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long says Suh’s biggest issue is that he is playing in the wrong era: “Ndamukong Suh has a birthday coming up on Tuesday, January 6th. He was born in 1987. The problem with Ndamukong Suh is he was born 27 years too late. Anyone who played when we played has to feel a little bit hypocritical being critical of this guy. But the reality of the situation is, it’s not 1984, it’s 2015. And that being said, it’s unfortunate that he put himself in this position, because now the narrative is all about Ndamukong Suh the dirty player and not about what a great player Ndamukong Suh really is.”
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw says the Lions have the offensive weaponry to match the explosive offense of the Cowboys if needed: “They took away the deep throw. They have actually reeled Stafford in because he used to gamble throwing downfield, but he had too many turnovers. But he has the weapons today with Eric Ebron at tight end, Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate and Reggie Bush, to match up with anything Dallas has, I believe that. Dallas is no better at home than they are on the road, they are each 4-4 at home and 4-4 on the road, respectively, and Detroit has a chance.”
Long assesses the Dallas offense’s impact on the rest of the team and says its success is the product of schematic changes and the vision of head coach Jason Garrett: They went through a makeover schematically in the offseason, which led to a psychological makeover on the field. To me, the discussion has been the changes on the coaching staff, changes with the play-calling responsibilities, the three offensive linemen that they hit a home run with [in the draft] and Scott Linehan is getting a lot of credit for this. I believe that this is the offense and the system that Jason Garrett has always wanted to run. It is what he came up under, it’s what he had success with as a player, it’s his frame of reference and this is what he has always wanted to run.”
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