Aaron Rodgers vs. Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley

Detroit’s pass rush has been primarily from the edge this season, with defensive ends Cliff Avril, Kyle VandenBosch, Willie Young, and Lawrence Jackson applying most of the pressure. The interior rush has not been as dominant as it was last season, largely in part to the attention being paid to Ndamukong Suh.

The addition of Nick Fairley to the interior of the line has given the Lions a nice interior rotation to accompany that of the defensive ends. Fairley finally being healthy, and able to take some quality snaps against Carolina, will allow more one on one matchups for Suh, and for the entire line to remain fresh enough to get a decent rush on passing downs. This will specifically be helpful on third downs, where the Lions’ defense has struggled.

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Mike Martz vs. Gunther Cunningham

There are no secrets behind the success of the Chicago Bears. A simple formula, consisting of strong defense, and a heavy dose of Matt Forte both running and catching the ball, have led to some success over the first part of the season.

The Chicago offense is one of few in the NFL that does not revolve around the signal caller, Jay Cutler. The catalyst of this offense is running back Matt Forte. Forte leads the team in rushing with 672 yards, and also leads the team in receiving with 419 yards; over 100 more than the second leading receiver on the team.

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Photo taken by Michael Olsen

Ndamukong Suh vs. His own aggressiveness

The apparent turnaround of the Detroit Lion franchise can be credited to many, but most will agree that Ndamukong Suh is the catalyst around which this team is built. The drafting and subsequent success of Suh turned the Detroit defensive line into a strength, and gave the franchise a new attitude going forward. Thus far this season Suh has not lived up to expectations, which to be fair, are quite lofty after an impressive rookie campaign. Much of this can be attributed to teams scheming against him, and often double teaming him in passing situations, but the week five loss to San Francisco exposed a major liability in the second year defensive tackle.

It has often been stated that Suh’s aggressive style would end up hurting his team more than helping, and that was never more evident than last Sunday. On both of Frank Gore’s backbreaking runs, of 47 and 55 yards, the 49ers offensive line didn’t bother to touch Suh. Instead, they let his over aggressive and often selfish need to sack the quarterback do most of the work for him. Suh exploded through the offensive line untouched, and out of control, only to be trapped by reserve tight end Delaney Walker, leaving a gaping running lane exposed where Suh should have been.

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