Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

If the Detroit Lions are going to win their first playoff game in 23 years, they'll have to do so without their best defensive player.

The NFL suspended Ndamukong Suh one game today for intentionally stepping on Aaron Rodgers' leg in Sunday's regular season-ending 30-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

In a letter to Suh explaining the punishment, NFL vice president of football operations Merton Hanks wrote: "You did not respond in the manner of someone who had lost his balance and accidentally contacted another player who was lying on the ground. This illegal contact, specifically the second step and push off with your left foot, clearly could have been avoided."

Suh's suspension is a huge blow to the Lions' No. 2-ranked defense, and could spell the end of his tumultuous career in Detroit.

A free agent after the season, Suh will miss Sunday's wild-card game against the Dallas Cowboys, where the Lions will not have to try to stop the NFL's leading rusher, DeMarco Murray, without their top two defensive tackles.

Nick Fairley, who's missed eight straight games with a sprained knee, is not yet ready to return from his injury.

Suh is expected to appeal his suspension, and as was the case last week with Dominic Raiola, the NFL will hold an expedited hearing on Tuesday.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell staunchly defended Suh for the incident in his postgame comments Sunday, before he saw a replay of the incident.

On Monday, after Caldwell had time to view the play, he declined to give his personal opinion of it..

"Personal views don't matter in this particular case," Caldwell said. "I think that the league will take a look at it and see what they think is within line and go from there. But I think it was obviously one of those situations that they'll have to rule on."

Last week, Raiola was suspended one game for jumping on the ankle of Chicago Bears defensive tackle Ego Ferguson.

The NFL cited Raiola's history of player-safety violations in handing out its discipline – Raiola has been fined five times for player-safety violations since 2010 – and Suh's more extensive history factored into the equation today.

Since the Lions drafted him No. 2 overall out of Nebraska in 2010, Suh has been fined seven times for player-safety violations and suspended once, for two games in 2011 after he stomped on the arm of Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith.

On Sunday, Suh walked backwards onto Rodgers, first with his left heel and then with his right foot, after the Packers quarterback was knocked to the ground. He lingered briefly on Rodgers leg after the second step, and Rodgers shoved Suh in the butt area as Suh walked away.

Last week, Caldwell seemed prepared for Raiola's suspension when he met with reporters in his weekly Monday press conference, a few hours before the league's ruling came down.

Asked how surprised he'd be if Suh was suspended before the ruling was issued today, Caldwell said: "One of the things, there's an old adage that you prepare for the worst and you hope for the best. I think you always have to do that in our business."

With Suh out Sunday, the Lions likely will start C.J. Mosley and Andre Fluellen at defensive tackle, and use rookie Caraun Reid and defensive ends Darryl Tapp and Jason Jones as backups.

Nick Fairley is expected to miss his ninth straight game Sunday with a sprained knee.

"This question's been asked in a number of different ways about what (Suh's) value is, and I think if you look at that you can kind of surmise exactly what we feel about him," Caldwell said. "You don't have dominant players like that very often on your team and he's one of those."

Suh, who was not available for comment after Sunday's game, leads the Lions with 8.5 sacks this year and is the biggest reason the Lions lead the league in rush defense at 69.3 yards per game.

It's unclear how today's ruling will impact the Lions' decision to attempt to sign Suh to a long-term contract before he hits free agency this winter.

The Lions tabled talks with Suh before the start of training camp, but have been adamant that they want him back in Detroit next year.

Suh has referred questions about his future to his agent, Jimmy Sexton.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.