FLOWERY BRANCH — Detroit defense tackle Ndamukong Suh had a prolific rookie season and has given Detroit’s once faceless defense an identity.
After being the second player taken in the 2010 draft, he registered 10 sacks and was chosen defensive rookie of the year.
This season, despite not having a sack in his past three games, Suh has picked up where he left off.
No defensive tackle has entered the NFL and dominated so early in his career since Warren Sapp started partying in the opposition’s backfield for Tampa Bay in 1995.
Because Suh moves around from play to play, right guard Garrett Reynolds and left guard Justin Blalock will battle him when the Falcons (3-3) play the Lions (5-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit.
“He’s got great hands,” Reynolds said. “He’s very explosive. He’s a very good player all-around. It’s going to be a good challenge.”
Suh (6-foot-4, 307 pounds) went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie and has 12 sacks in his first 21 games. He has the most sacks by a defensive tackle in the NFL since the beginning of last season. The Lions are tied for 13th in the NFL this season with 14 sacks.
The Falcons hope to counter Suh’s wild and frenetic rushes with a strong rushing attack.
“Just like any other game, if you go out and establish a running game, it slows down the pass rush,” center Todd McClure said.
The Falcons struggled early this season with pass protection before making some schematic changes and getting McClure back from knee surgery.
They respect Suh, but are not in awe of him.
“Every defense you play they’ve got some great guys up front,” McClure said. “It’s not like the college game where you might have a down week and get to relax a little bit. You’ve got to be on point every week.”
Tackle Tyson Clabo believes that Suh deserves the early hype that he has received.
“He’s pretty athletic,” Clabo said. “He moves well. He’s strong and powerful, everything that you are looking for in a defensive tackle.”
Detroit coach Jim Schwartz has been impressed with how quickly Suh has exerted his presence in the NFL after being an All-American at Nebraska.
“He’s an outstanding young player,” Schwartz said. “Nothing is too big for him.”
The Lions point to their eight-player rotation along the line that allows Suh to stay fresh so that he can keep charging hard late in games.
He rotates with tackles Corey Williams and Sammie Hill, and they’ve recently added Nick Fairley, their 2011 first-round pick from Auburn, into the mix.
“A lot like the Falcons, we roll eight guys through there,” Schwartz said. “We expect them to be fresh and play hard.”
Suh has made some questionable plays and has drawn the ire of the league office. He has been fined $42,500 for three hits on quarterbacks.
During the exhibition season he was fined $20,000 for flinging Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton to the ground after the ball was released. Last season, he was fined $15,000 for a hit he put on Chicago’s Jay Cutler. During the 2010 exhibition season, he was fined $7,500 for a hit on Cleveland’s Jake Delhomme.
“You can’t worry about that stuff too much,” quarterback Matt Ryan said. “You know going into each week, it’s going to be a physical grind for that 60 minutes. You can’t pay attention to what guys are doing after the whistle and those type of things. You’ve just got to keep playing.”
The Falcons could be short-handed for their battle against Suh and his linemates.
Starting left tackle Sam Baker missed his second day of practice Thursday with a lower back injury. If Baker is not ready to play, Will Svitek would start.
Svitek comes in to block as a tight end in some of the Falcons’ power formations. He has played in 57 NFL games and made six starts, including two for the Falcons in 2009.
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