EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Dexter Lawrence’s play in the interior of the Giants’ defensive line has been so consistently excellent that even the teammate who lines up next to him admits he marvels at his friend’s capacity to dominate.
“I do, actually,” fellow lineman Leonard Williams said. “‘Gamers play game’ type of thing. Some of the stuff that I’ve been able to see him do this year has just been like, ‘Whoa.’ I’ve seen D-tackles do a swim move or do a rip move or do a long arm or do all these things that will get them free. I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ve seen another D-tackle do that before.’ Whereas, he’s doing things that I’m just like, ‘I’ve never seen any other D-tackle in this area do that.’ It’s like he’s a one-of-a-kind type of player, a generational player, in my opinion.”
Lawrence blossomed into one of the NFL’s best defensive players in his fourth season. He is a first-time Pro Bowler, was named second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press and was the first-team nose tackle on the NFLPA’s inaugural Players’ All-Pro team.
“It does mean more,” Lawrence said last week when he received the latter honor. “It’s people who know the game and respect the game and understand it. I think that’s the best kind of recognition for your peers to vote on you.” Lawrence is also a first-time Pro Bowler.
On Saturday night, Lawrence, his fellow linemen and the rest of the Giants’ defense will face perhaps their biggest challenge of the season when they take on the high-scoring Philadelphia Eagles offense in an NFC Divisional Playoff Game in Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles won the two regular-season meetings, including a Dec. 11 matchup in MetLife Stadium when they scored 48 points and gained 437 yards, the highest and second-highest totals, respectively, allowed by the Giants all season.
“The defensive line always takes the credit for everything,” Williams said. “Whether we’re not getting enough pressure on the quarterback, whether we’re not stopping the run, we’re going to put it on our backs at the end of the day. That obviously is not going to be enough going into this playoff game if we allow them to do that again. It takes all of us, though – not just the D-line, the whole front seven, safeties, everybody to stop the run. That’s our goal this week is to try to make them one-dimensional and stop the run as early as possible.”
They succeeded last week, holding the Minnesota Vikings to only 61 yards on the ground in the Giants’ 31-24 victory in an NFC Wild Card Game….
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