Philadelphia Eagles: Demarcus Lawrence shouldn’t be throwing stones
With his team in the midst of a three-game losing streak, maybe Demarcus Lawrence should stay focused on the Philadelphia Eagles, not Doug Pederson.
Has any team in recent memory fallen faster from grace than the 2019 Dallas Cowboys?
After a few dominant outings against now certified duds like the Miami Dolphins, the Washington Redskins, and the Eli Manning-led New York Giants (remember him?), the Cowboys are riding a three-game losing streak capped off by a horrible loss to the New York Jets in Week 6.
Fans booed, Jason Garrett‘s job is once again on the chopping block, and Kellen Moore no longer looks like the second coming of Sean McVay.
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Simply put: After headlining NFC team rankings back in September, the Cowboys’ fall from grace couldn’t have come to a nicer team.
But in a weird twist of fate, the team is still tied for first place in the NFC East, with a Week 7 slugfest against our hometown Philadelphia Eagles set to decide the one true first-place team – at least for the week.
With a desperate desire to rally the troops on either side of the, well, sidelines, both coaching staffs have taken markedly different paths to prepare for the forthcoming Sunday Night Football Showdown. While Garrett has largely kept himself out of the spotlight as he prepares for what could quite possibly be his final head coaching effort, Doug Pederson has been open with the local media about the Eagles need to win this week against a division foe.
However, it would appear Pederson’s words (read them here) have ruffled a few feathers down in Dallas, specifically those of the team’s biggest bird Demarcus Lawrence.
Upon hearing Pederson’s ‘we’re gonna win that football game’ declaration, Lawrence lashed back with an… interesting response that has to be read verbatim to be believed.
"“Tell him to come on. We ready. Can he play the game? So he might want to shut his a** up and stay on the sideline. He can’t play the game for them. The Eagles got to play them and he’s supposed to sit on the sideline and do whatever he wants to do. But he can’t play the game for them, so we’ll see.”"
Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here.
First of all, I have to give it up to Mr. Lawrence, he’s right: technically Pederson isn’t going to be on the field on Sunday night at 8:20 pm EST, because at 51-years-old, the former quarterback is (obviously) retired. Pederson will, however, be on the sidelines calling plays for the entirety of the 3-3 winner take all showdown, presumably calling a more creative offense than his Week 6 Alshon Jeffery screen show in Minnesota.
Furthermore, despite earning a big money, five-year, $105 million deal in April, Lawrence hasn’t exactly taken the league by storm over the first month and a half of the regular season – recording just nine tackles and 2.5 sacks in six weeks of action.
That’s good for a little less than .42 sacks a game, or one every 100 snaps – Yikes.
Granted, it’s not like the Eagles’ defensive rotation has been that much more effective, as the leader in the clubhouse, Brandon Graham, has logged all four of his sacks over the last two weeks, but still, should sacking Teddy Bridgewater, Eli Manning, and Ryan Fitzpatrick be considered all that much more impressive.
That’d be a no from me dog.
Next. Jim Schwartz doesn’t rush the passer with purpose. dark
For better or worse, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys are remarkably similar teams in that both are incredibly average and in need of a statement win to get their seasons back on track, but unlike Jason Garrett, Doug Pederson can be confident that his job will be secure come Monday morning regardless of outcome, because he won a Super Bowl not two calendar years ago. If Demarcus Lawrence dislikes Pederson’s confidence and desire to rally his troops around a shared goal, he has a perfect opportunity Sunday night to shut him up indefinitely.