Lions’ Suh won’t be helpless this time against Brees, Saints

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Ndamukong Suh was helpless the last time Detroit played New Orleans.

A stomp-induced, two-game suspension relegated him to watching his teammates play last month when the Lions lost 31-17 to the Saints — and Suh said he did that from his parents’ home in Portland, Ore.

“It was obviously difficult,” Suh said softly.

This time, Suh will be on the field to help a franchise with only one playoff victory since winning the 1957 NFL title pull off an upset win at New Orleans.

The Lions and Saints have offenses so potent that oddsmakers have set the overunder betting line at a playoffrecord 59 points for Saturday night’s game. The previous high was 57 when the Saints played Arizona two years ago and won 45-14.

“I don’t plan on anybody shooting our defense out,” Suh said. “You can’t discredit the type of offensive team that we’re going to face in the New Orleans Saints. Drew Brees is obviously a great quarterback.

“I look at it as a great challenge,” he said.

The 2010 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year has not met the daunting challenge of matching his statistical production from last season.

Suh had 10 sacks and 66 tackles as a rookie and just four sacks and 36 tackles in his second pro season.

How would Suh grade himself?

“Null and void,” he said. “It doesn’t matter in this particular game. You have to go out and win this game, that’s most important. It doesn’t matter what you did in the regular season.”

In three games since returning from his Nfl-issued suspension from stomping on a Green Bay lineman, he’s had a total of five tackles along with a victory-sealing blocked field goal at Oakland. He ended his six-game sack drought in Sunday’s 45-41 loss to the Packers.

“I’d agree he hasn’t shown up on the stat sheet as much, but I thought he did some really good things in the Green Bay game and I think he’s played well,” Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said. “He’s impacted the game since he’s been back. I think one thing is you can’t change what you do to try and show up on the stat sheet.”