New York Giants’ defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence is a problem. The 6-foot-4, 340-pound game-changer is a problem for the entire NFL. He is second in the NFL in sacks with seven, half a sack behind Aidan Hutchinson’s NFL-leading 7.5. And he will be a big problem for the Eagles this Sunday at 1 p.m. at MetLife Stadium.
In nine career games against the Eagles, Lawrence has 13 tackles and 15 combined tackles, which for Lawrence is second lifetime behind the 38 combined tackles he has had against Washington.
Lawrence will be a lot to handle for Eagles’ center Cam Jurgens, left guard Landon Dickerson and right guard Mekhi Becton. Lawrence is huge, though what makes him highly unique is his quick footwork for someone so large. As a team, the Giants lead the NFL with 26 sacks.
To keep Lawrence off Jalen Hurts, they will need to double team him, and be willing to make a sacrifice somewhere on the offensive front, where someone will be counted on to block one-on-one without help.
The Eagles had their hands full in their 20-16 victory over the Cleveland Browns and tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. Lawrence did not practice on Wednesday with a hip injury, although he told New York reporters he will be playing on Sunday against the Eagles and looks forward to facing his former teammate, Saquon Barkley. Lawrence feels getting Barkley early before he gets is legs churning is the key to stopping him.
How will the Eagles stop Lawrence if they had trouble stopping Tomlinson last Sunday?
The Browns “do an excellent job packing the box, so we felt like there were going to be some dirty runs in there and hopefully we’re going to be able to pop a few,” Eagles’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said this week. “We were close on a couple. We felt like there were some close opportunities. I thought getting the toss game going a little bit was a nice change up for us.
It’s a game where the way their rush is, you don’t want to sit and drop back a ton with 95 [Myles Garrett] and some of the challenges that can present. And so, we felt like we were close.
“We didn’t get any of the spring out for those big plays like we had in the previous few games, and so we felt like we were heading in the right direction. Ultimately didn’t reach that big goal, the big explosive plays that you’re looking for, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
Lawrence is a level above Tomlinson.
“It’s definitely a big awareness for us going through the game plan process already the last day and a half,” Moore said about Lawrence. “He’s one of the premiere players in this league. He’s having an excellent season. A lot of focus and attention with this game plan will go towards him.”
Lawrence is looking for a sack in his third game in a row, and he has a sack in two of his last three home games.
The Eagles are 91-87-2 all-time against the Giants and are 5-1 over New York in the last six games. The last time the Eagles lost consecutive games to the Giants was a 27-17 setback on Nov. 15, 2020, and the Eagles’ 13-7 defeat to New York on Nov. 28, 2021. The Giants beat the Eagles, 27-10, in last year’s season finale on Jan. 7, 2024, capping the Eagles’ 1-5 regular season slide.
Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who has written feature stories for SI.com, ESPN.com, NFL.com, MLB.com, Deadspin and The Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News. In 2006, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for a special project piece for ESPN.com called “Love at First Beep.” He is most noted for his award-winning ESPN.com feature on high school wrestler A.J. Detwiler in February 2006, which appeared on SportsCenter. In 2015, he was elected president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
