There's no doubt that Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh's hit on Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler on Monday night was vicious. But was it dirty? Quite simply, no. The NFL deemed it a clean play, and even Bears coach Lovie Smith and Cutler himself didn't take issue with the sack.
Jay Cutler and Lovie Smith both called Ndamukong Suh's sack a clean, football play.
— Michael C. Wright (@mikecwright) October 23, 2012
Despite this, Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall has spent the last day whining about the hit Suh put on Cutler. The whining first started on Twitter after Monday night's game, and Lions defensive end Lawrence Jackson put Marshall in his place with a great retort.
A Suh. What u did to Jay wasn't cool. Great players don't have to do that.
— Brandon Marshall (@BMarshall) October 23, 2012
@bmarshall great players don't have to do what??? Tackle a QB? Character...Really? You get a #cmonmaaaaan it was legal and clean...#stopit
— Lawrence Jackson (@LoJackson94) October 23, 2012
Marshall continued whining about the play on ESPN First Take on Tuesday. Via ESPN Chicago, here's a look at what he had to say:
"Last night the leg whip that Ndamukong Suh placed on our quarterback Jay Cutler, that was dirty. That was dirty," Marshall said. "He can be one of the best D-tackles that ever done it, but he cannot do that that way. If you look at it, c'mon man, this is not wrestling. You don't do that. That's not clean."
It's pretty laughable that there's even a story here considering the play was clean, as pointed out by Jackson later on Twitter. As Jackson said, you have to get Cutler down as fast as you can, and for Suh that simply meant driving him into the ground. I mean, even the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ryan Clark chimed in to defend Suh.
So are people really questioning the hit by Suh last night? Man once a guy gets label he better not sneeze too hard!
— ryan clark (@RealRClark25) October 23, 2012
I can't believe I'm saying this, but my respect for Cutler has gone up quite a bit. He not only played through the injury he suffered on that hit, but he didn't resort to whining about it like Marshall has since last night's game ended. I get the whole "He's my quarterback!" attitude, but how about you save your tears for a play that is actually worthy of being called dirty?
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