Was Ndamukong Suh’s hit on Jay Cutler a dirty play?

There is no debating that the Chicago Bears thoroughly dominated the Detroit Lions on Monday night.  Even though the Chicago Bears only won by six points, anyone who watched the game would agree that it felt more like a 30 point blowout than a game decided by less than a touchdown.  Either way, the Chicago Bears won the game, but not without Jay Cutler suffering bruised ribs after taking a controversial hit from Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh

“That was a tough hit.” Cutler said.

The hit which caused Cutler to miss a few plays at the end of the first half has sparked a debate over whether or not the hit was a dirty play.  Suh was not flagged on the play and it has been reported that he will not be fined for the hit either.  However this does not mean that everyone around the league agrees that the hit was a perfectly clean play.  The most notable person who has spoken out about the hit is Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

“Last night the leg whip that Ndamukong Suh placed on our quarterback, Jay Cutler, that was dirty.” Marshall said.

Marshall also tweeted about the hit saying that it “wasn’t cool”.  Marshall is on the money with his “not cool” comment, and he is right to say that the leg whip was the part of the hit that makes it a dirty play.  Suh had Cutler mostly wrapped up and could have just rode him to the ground using his 300 pound frame, but instead chose to kick Cutler’s legs out from underneath him so that he could pile drive Cutler to the turf.  I’m the first person to complain about there being too many roughing the passer penalties in the NFL, and I’m not even arguing a flag should have been thrown on the play, but anyone who says a  player as massive and strong as Suh needed to leg whip Cutler on that play to get him to the ground is kidding themselves.

Marshall is not the only person in the Chicago Bears organization who commented about the hit.  Lovie Smith did not see the hit as being overly violent.

“That’s football. No one is trying to hurt anyone or anything like that out there.” Said Smith.

Even Jay Cutler had a similar opinion to Smith, also saying that it was just a football play and that he fell awkwardly on the ball.  A lot is to be said when the man who endured the brutal hit comes out and says that it wasn’t a dirty play, but it is also possible that Jay Cutler simply did not want to set off a media frenzy by publicly saying the hit was dirty.

Whether or not the hit was a dirty play is simply a matter of opinion.  The important facts to note from Monday night’s game is that Jay Cutler is healthy, and the Chicago Bears sit alone atop the NFC North with a 5-1 record.  On the flip side, the Detroit Lions fall to 2-4 on the season and sit in last place.  The Chicago Bears take on the struggling 1-5 Carolina Panthers this Sunday while the Detroit Lions limp into a must win game against the 4-3 Seattle Seahawks Sunday afternoon.