New York Giants star nose tackle Dexter Lawrence is having a dominant campaign this season. Despite the Giants falling short of victory against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Lawrence continued his dominance on the interior and is quickly entering the Defensive Player of The Year conversation.
Giants’ Dexter Lawrence continued his dominant 2024 season on Sunday against the Bengals
On Sunday against Cincinnati, Lawrence recorded two tackles and one sack in the contest. He now has a league-leading eight sacks on the season, and he is the only player in the NFL this season with at least six sacks through the first six weeks of the season.
Lawrence has also recorded at least one pressure in every game this season, including a season-high seven pressures in Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns. His 24 total pressures rank third in the NFL, behind only Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs (28) and Zach Allen of the Denver Broncos (33).
Lawrence has been a force on the interior this season
The 26-year-old has been a wrecking ball this year for the Giants. His contributions inside are a large factor into the team’s strong defensive performance this season, and has formed a formidable trio with Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
New York has not allowed more than 21 points in a game this season (h/t The Athletic’s Dan Duggan), and they have the most sacks as a team this season with 26. Their 73.3 pressure grade by PFF ranks ninth in the NFL, and Lawrence has the fourth-highest overall defensive grade by PFF with it being 89.6.
“Dex is a unique player. Never seen it before,” Burns said about Lawrence back in September (h/t SNY).
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The Giants have struggled largely because of their offense
Despite the Giants’ brilliance on defense led by Lawrence, they are not sitting pretty in the standings right now. The loss on Sunday put them in a 2-4 hole to begin the season, and they are in last place in the NFC East division.
The offense is mostly to blame for their struggles this season, as Lawrence and the rest of the New York defense have done a tremendous job under the first season with new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. Time is running out for them to turn around their season, but they can at least be happy with the fact that they are getting phenomenal production out of Lawrence once more.
