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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas — Sitting at his locker inside MetLife Stadium, DeMarcus Lawrence had a simple question after the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants 40-0 to open the season.
“How many sacks did we get?” the defensive end asked.
Seven.
“Dang,” he said, shaking his head in disappointment.
He mentioned the Cowboys wanted nine. He even brought up the NFL record for sacks in a game, 14. With how well the Cowboys’ pass rush performed against the Giants, neither figure seemed impossible.
“That’s who we are,” Lawrence said of the pass rush’s performance.
Up next are the New York Jets on Sunday at AT&T Stadium (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS) with Zach Wilson at quarterback — not Aaron Rodgers, who will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn left Achilles in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills.
The Cowboys might find it more difficult to sack Wilson than Rodgers.
In 231 career games, Rodgers has been sacked an average of 2.3 times per game (531 times). In nine regular-season games against the Cowboys, he has been sacked 2.7 times per game (24 times). In 40 career games, Wilson has been sacked 1.7 times per game (69 times).
Considering the worries the Jets had with their offensive line entering the season, the Cowboys’ pass rush should be a major concern in Week 2.
“Really, you felt it right away. Statistically, it’s the best one, personally, I’ve been a part of,” coach Mike McCarthy said of the pass rush versus the Giants. “The numbers showed our defensive pass rush — as far as pass attempts — 75% of the [Giants’] attempts were under pressure. That’s a huge win in that area. That’s the highest one I’ve ever been a part of. It was obviously a big part of setting the tempo. You could see this building the last three years and definitely felt it all throughout training camp.”
As Lawrence spoke after Sunday’s game, a teammate could be heard in the background doing an Oprah Winfrey imitation: “You get a sack! You get a sack! You get a sack!”
Five different players were credited with a sack. Osa Odighizuwa and Dorance Armstrong had two apiece. Lawrence, DaRon Bland, a cornerback, and Micah Parsons had one sack each. Chauncey Golston had a sack wiped out because of a holding penalty.
“Obviously [No.] 11 [Parsons] gets a lot of attention, rightfully so, but we’ve got a ton of guys who can rush across the board,” All-Pro right guard Zack Martin said. “Teams will focus on him and let those other guys get single [blocks] and those guys will win on singles all day.”
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the Cowboys had eight defenders with multiple quarterback pressures, including four with at least five pressures: Parsons (6), Dante Fowler Jr. (6), Odighizuwa (6) and Armstrong (5). Lawrence had three.
“What’s fun about our group is it can come from a lot of different people and a lot of different areas,” defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said. “Whether we want to blitz or pressure, or four-man rush, and putting guys into different spaces, I think that’s what’s fun about our defense.”
Fun for the Cowboys — not fun for the opposing offense and quarterback.
Dak Prescott knew this was coming. The Cowboys’ quarterback saw it daily during training camp in Oxnard, California, and believes it will help him when facing other teams during the season.
“Whether it was speeding me up, making me check it down quicker, making my feet move, making my decisions faster sometimes,” Prescott said. “Just because they got back there in practice doesn’t necessarily end that rep of that play, so a lot of good came from that. I can tell you that after a lot of the plays and things that happened at practice, I was thankful for a lot of those guys being on our team.
“I said that many, many times [Sunday] watching them go after the other quarterback.”
The Cowboys finished third in the NFL in sacks last season with 54. Only the Philadelphia Eagles (68) and Kansas City Chiefs (55) had more. The team record is 62, set in 1985.
Quinn was quick to point out 16 regular-season games remain, saying, “For damn sure one game doesn’t define a season,” but for the pass rush, there could not have been a better start.
“I think we’re making a statement that we’ve been trying to make: We’re the best defense in the National Football League,” Parsons said.
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