A
A
cliff avril
The Lions' Cliff Avril cuts loose after sacking Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan. / KIRTHMON F. DOZIER/DFP
BY STEVE SCHRADER
DETROIT FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Filed Under
Sports
Detroit Lions
Ndamukong Suh
Cliff Avril
Matthew Stafford
Ads by Pulse 360
AdChoices
Last week it was The Handshake.
This week some Atlanta Falcons were claiming after Sunday's game that the Lions' Ndamukong Suh and Cliff Avril taunted quarterback Matt Ryan when he was on the turf with an ankle injury.
"I lost a whole lot of respect for 90 (Suh) today, and also 92 (Avril), the (bleep) they were doing when Matt got hurt," Falcons receiver Roddy White told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
"That was unacceptable. ... Like 92 was kicking his feet, saying, 'Get him off the field.' We don't do stuff like that. We don't rally over guys when they get hurt. It was just inappropriate behavior."
Ryan went down on a third-quarter play when his ankle was folded in two by his own lineman's foot. But he returned to finish the game.
"I had respect for Suh before the game," Falcons center Todd McClure told the Journal Constitution. "But when Matt was on the ground, the things he was saying and the trash he was talking was definitely uncalled for. ... (He said), 'Get the cart' and several other things that I can't repeat."
But when he was asked about it, Ryan said, "I didn't hear any of that." Maybe he was too busy groaning.
As for the accused, Avril tweeted later: "Come on, I'm not in the business of hurting not one guy on the field ... I would never taunt anyone on an injury...
"But if we want to talk about dirty players look at the film and see who prides themselves on being durty..."
Still, it's true the Lions still had the Chip on the Shoulder attitude Sunday, starting with some pregame jawing with the Falcons. And that stuff plays a lot better when they're winning.
Lions take crowd out of game
The Falcons had sounds of jet engines piped in to practice last week to prepare for the Ford Field crowd noise.
The flight must have been stuck on the tarmac, because the din the Lions have been bragging about didn't happen. At times it seemed like you could have heard a pin drop. Or a Matthew Stafford pass.
"Right now this building is a nonfactor," Fox analyst Brian Billick said.
But don't blame the fans for not bringing their "A" game, because neither did the Lions, with ineffective offense, special teams that were worse, field goals instead of touchdowns, penalties and other stuff that seemed vaguely familiar.
In other words, c'mon, guys, you gotta give us something to work with here. That's how the place got loud in the first place (and why things perked up for a while in the second half).
Outtakes
• Billick, critiquing the Lions QB: "Stafford is rushing himself, and I don't know that he needs to. ... I don't know if it's perceived pressure or actual pressure, but he's not settling in and throwing the way we've seen him throw before."
• Is that why the Lions converted just one of 12 third downs? Including last week's 49ers loss, they're on a 3-for-27 streak.
• Oops, Suh got flagged for snagging Ryan's face mask, providing him with a different point of view. It's called the William Gholston Rule.
• Billick, on the Lions' record: "As I've always said in the National Football League, 5-2 -- when did you win the five and when did you lose the two?"
Back in the studio
• Yeah, they were still talking about The Handshake. It made segments throughout the "Fox NFL Sunday." Think that was Schwartz's strategy all along, distract everybody because better they talk about that instead of a Lions' loss?
• Michael Strahan, analyzing tape of the incident: "We need to get Jim Schwartz another bout as soon as possible. My man needs to redeem himself. This is what's known as 'Somebody hurry up and get between us so I can act like I really want to fight you.' "
• For the record, Schwartz and Atlanta's Mike Smith shook hands and parted like gentlemen after the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment