Watch out, Tom Brady. Terrell Suggs is heating up.
Suggs had one sack in eight games before heading to Denver. He broke out with two Saturday night, logging 10 total tackles.
"It was one of top performances probably," defensive tackle Haloti Ngata said. "He's been doing a lot of good things, and hopefully, we can continue to work well together."
Just last week, reporters were questioning why Suggs was so quiet, wondering whether his Achilles and biceps injuries had taken a* *toll on the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees responded, saying "anything that we've gotten out of Terrell Suggs has been a positive" considering there was doubt that he would be playing at all this season.
"I'm a big Terrell Suggs fan, I really am. I'm an admirer of his, in all honesty," Head Coach John Harbaugh said Monday.
"He's playing through something that most guys wouldn't play through. And, yes, he is getting better. He is improving every single week. We hope that continues."
Suggs has traditionally heated up in the playoffs.
Since 2008, his 12 postseason sacks lead the NFL, three ahead of Pittsburgh's LaMarr Woodley. Suggs is tied with former Green Bay defensive end Reggie White for the third-most sacks in NFL postseason history (since sacks became an official statistic in 1982). Former New England outside linebacker Willie McGinest leads with 16.
Suggs and Brady have long had a respect, yet trash-talk filled relationship.
In that 2010 wild-card playoff game, Suggs logged a sack and forced fumble against Brady. He was held to five tackles and just one quarterback hit in last year's AFC championship, however. The Ravens sacked Brady just once in the loss.
Suggs was still rehabbing his Achilles injury when the Ravens and Patriots met in Week 3.
"I thought all of our guys did a good job of constricting the pocket [in Denver], and that's something you have to do," Harbaugh said. "We are going to have to do that this week. With Tom Brady, you can't give him a lot of throwing range. That's going to be important."
