No absence of storylines from the 2011 “Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl” between the Green Bay Packers an the Detroit Lions. You had:
-the Lions failing to live up to expectations/Matt Stafford throwing three picks
-Green Bay winning in dominant fashion 27-8, despite playing UGLY football for a half
-The Detroit fans getting a petition passed to prevent the crappy, overrated pop act Nickelback from playing at halftime
-Would this match-up of two potentially playoff bound NFC North teams live up to night back featuring two first place teams (San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens)
However, the real story here was Ndamukong Suh getting kicked out of the game early in the second half.
From Fox Sports:
The second-year star was seen grappling with Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith before standing up and stomping on his arm. The referees immediately flagged him for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and threw him out.
It’s the first ejection of Suh’s career. He met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell earlier this season to discuss how he could reduce the amount of unsportsmanlike penalties.
Mr. Suh, you’re making it awfully hard for me to keep defending your play and say that you’re not dirty. I was impressed that you went to “the principal’s office for a “behavior analysis” with the NFL commissioner, but I’ve got one foot off the defending your play bandwagon.
Today, a by named Suh looked a lot like a real life version of Samurai from the 1991 classic college football film “Necessary Roughness.” Penalty!- aikido thrust to the facemask” “kuzushi roundhouse kick to the throat.”
Suh hurt the team by being stupid and getting kicked out when they needed him to try and stop the Packers at the goal line. Now that they Lions fell to 7-4, they’ll likely have to go some games without him, arguably their best defender; because a suspension is likely on the way.
As for the game itself, Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl I. (There are three games today, so this is Turkey Bowl I) it started slow, and Detroit was in it for a half, but the Aaron Rodgers did the “discount double check” on the Lions; throwing 22-32 for 307, 2 TD, o INT. I guess State Farm bested Subway and Omaha Steaks (Suh’s endorsement deals) in the battle of branding on Consumerist Holiday Eve.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, a Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports.
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; he’s also a member of the FWAA, USBWA and SPJ. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.