Suh and Fairley dismiss ‘killer’ tag but will be focused.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has admitted that he is wary of the danger posed by the Detroit Lions defensive tackle duo of Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley.
The two teams go head-to-head on Sunday, and given the combination of the devastating defensive work of the Lions players and ‘Big Ben’s’ habit of holding on to the ball for longer than other quarterbacks, he understands the danger ahead.
“Well, yeah, you’ve got to be careful,” he said as reported by ESPN. “You’ll end up dead if you’re not careful. This is a great D-line and defense.
“Yeah, well, I tell myself all the time to be alert for those things. But then, when the bullets are flying, who knows what’s going to happen?”
The threat is potentially more serious when considering that Roethlisberger has been sacked more often than any other quarterback over the past five seasons.
The veteran’s record currently stands at 379 sacks since the start of the 2001 season, but it remains to be seen whether or not he will be quicker at releasing the ball during Sunday’s clash.
However, both Suh and Fairley were keen to downplay being tagged as ‘killers’, and insisted that they were without question not going out on to the field looking to hurt someone.
Nevertheless, they understand the importance of staying alive to the play with the Steelers quarterback in action and will be keen to take on the task of trying to stop him.
“That’s interesting,” Suh said. “I’m not a killer. My track record proves that one.
“I guess I can take that somewhat as a compliment. But no, there’s going to be no killing on Sunday.”
The Lions currently top the NFC North after their win over the Chicago Bears last weekend (6-3), while Pittsburgh will be looking to reignite their mini-revival to improve on a 3-6 record so far this season.
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