To the naked eye, New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II was held in check against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4.
Officially, Lawrence finished the game with 2 solo tackles and 1 quarterback hit according to ESPN. Of course, the NFL is not always so black and white, and when Pro Football Focus praised Cowboys rookie center Cooper Beebe publicly for allowing zero quarterback pressures against Lawrence, the Giants star sounded off on the grading site.
“Don’t hype this he know how the game went..” Lawrence responded, including a Looney Tunes GIF of animated cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn spanking a different character known as Barnyard Dawg.
Although Lawrence was mostly kept off the stat sheet on September 26, that doesn’t mean he didn’t impact the game.
Per Pro Football Network, “the Cowboys double-teamed Dexter Lawrence on 80% of his pass rushes [in Week 4], per @NextGenStats.” PFN added that this percentage “tied for the highest double-team rate in a single game since at least 2018 (min. 25 pass rushes).”
They also noted that “as a team, the Giants produced a 14.3% pressure rate, the lowest by any team in a single game this season.”
Dexter Lawrence Needs Help From Giants Defensive Linemen
The clear takeaways here are that; one, Lawrence needs help, and two, the Giants game wrecker appears to be getting frustrated.
“I don’t give a damn about a petty win,” Lawrence told reporters after the game. “It’s football. We go out here to score points and to win. And stop them on defense. We didn’t do that, and they beat us.”
Although Lawrence may not be pleased with PFF at the moment, the site has graded him out tremendously so far in 2024, with an 89.9 mark overall and an 80.8 as a pass rusher. The same cannot be said about the majority of Lawrence’s help on the defensive line.
Star edge rusher Brian Burns has been very good, per PFF, with an 80.0 grade and the second most quarterback pressures (11) on the team behind Lawrence — tied with fellow OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Despite his total number of pressures, Thibodeaux’s marks have been below average. The former first-round talent has already missed 3 tackles this year compared to just 5 key defensive stops. Thibodeaux has also allowed a 7.3-yard average depth of tackle in run defense.
For reference, a good average depth of tackle for a defensive lineman would be anything under 3.0 yards. Burns’ average depth of tackle after four weeks is 3.0 yards on the nose while Lawrence’s is worse at a 3.5-yard average.
The depth behind those three has been unimpactful, for the most part.
Azeez Ojulari has provided a boost as a pass rusher but has struggled as a tackler. While interior defensive linemen Elijah Chatman, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, D.J. Davidson and Jordon Riley have all been average to poor, per PFF — with the undrafted rookie Chatman leading that group with just 4 QB pressures.
Giants Defense Hasn’t Been the Problem Despite Average Start
Although the Giants defense has been far from dominant early on, they haven’t been the problem either.
After getting knocked around on both sides of the ball against the Minnesota Vikings, Big Blue kept a rising Washington Commanders offense out of the end zone despite seven field goals, then held the Cleveland Browns under 20 points.
Even the Cowboys only scored 20, which isn’t anything outrageous in the modern-day NFL.
According to Pro Football Reference, the Giants defense has allowed 5.3 yards per play this season, which is tied for 15th around the league. Similarly, they are tied for 13th in net passing yards per attempt at 5.8 yards but rank far worse in run defense at 4.7 yards allowed per carry (tied for 23rd).
Clearly, the defense is still a work in progress as new coordinator Shane Bowen implements his system. Having said that, offensive production is still the primary concern heading into Week 5.
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