Los Angeles Rams: Patriots shouldn’t sleep on Ndamukong Suh

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is one player the New England Patriots can’t afford to ignore.

I have no problem saying that Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh wasn’t much to talk about in 2018. The big ticket free agent acquisition was a name on the roster, but didn’t and doesn’t have the swag he once did some years ago.

In Los Angeles, he was to be paired with perhaps the best in the game, DT Aaron Donald. Analysts thought the Rams would be a defensive juggernaut in the NFL as LA would also add high profile, high maintenance type of players like Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib.

It looked good on paper, but that was about it.

It took awhile, but the hype is starting to catch up with reality, as Suh is finally playing the kind of football fans had hoped for.

Give a ton of credit to defensive coordinator and maybe the most liked coach in the National Football League, Wade Phillips. Phillips, who is always great for a quote or two, managed to hold it all together in a year where the Rams defense, especially Suh, looked to be anything other than advertised.

Against the Dallas Cowboys, a playoff game on a Saturday night in the Coliseum, a contest many in the media loved Dallas to win, Suh would have his best performance at just the right time. He’d record four total tackles, three of them solo and one for a loss. He’d also get two hits on quarterback Dak Prescott.

He kept it up against the New Orleans Saints. In the NFC Championship Game, Suh would have four total tackles, with two of them solo. He’d also have 1.5 sacks a tackle for a loss, and add another two hits to Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

The New England Patriots will pick their poison on Super Bowl Sunday. If they go all in on stopping Donald, Suh can, and will make them pay.

It may have taken some time, but Ndamukong Suh is finally making the kind of impact fans were hoping for. On Sunday, he can erase a season of mediocrity and replace it with a Super Bowl Championship for the Rams and his reputation.

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