IRVING, Texas – After three snaps of football Monday night, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence already had his best statistical game of his career.
Two sacks of Kirk Cousins in the first series of the game was quite a start for Lawrence, who also had a key third-down tackle for loss that led to a Washington field goal. Lawrence even admitted this week the game against the Redskins has to go down as the best of his still-young NFL career.
"I felt like I started off the game the right way," Lawrence said Wednesday. "Overall yeah, it would be my best game. Coming out the gate, starting strong, but I have to keep it up going to this week."
This week, of course, the competition obviously gets better as the Cowboys face Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Last year, in the NFC Divisional Playoff game, Lawrence sacked Rodgers, one of two postseason sacks he had as a rookie.
And after somewhat of a slow start this year, Lawrence has come on strong lately, registering four sacks in the last four games.
"Getting sacks will build confidence, not just for you but as a D-line. We've done a good job lately working together and getting our fix together outside and being relentless in our rush. It helped me out a lot these last four weeks."
Head coach Jason Garrett said it's not just one thing that has elevated Lawrence's play in the last month.
"I think it's always a combination of things," Garrett said. "He's played really well in other areas, even when he has not gotten sacks. I think the thing that is showing up with him is his ability to run from sideline to sideline and make plays. A number of examples the last few weeks of him doing that. And really when a defensive lineman does that it has a really positive impact on your team. Everybody sees it."
