Gosselin: DeMarcus Lawrence 'grew up in an instant' after bonehead mistake

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,697
Gosselin: Rookie Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence 'grew up in an instant' after bonehead mistake

ARLINGTON — It was a rookie mistake.

A bonehead mistake.

The type of mistake that can end a season for a team that’s had far too many seasons come up short of late.

But it was also a learning lesson — a moment that took Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence from the lowest of lows in his NFL playoff debut to the highest of highs, a game-saving sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery of Matthew Stafford in the final minute that preserved a 24-20 playoff victory over the Detroit Lions.

But let’s backtrack first. That fumble recovery was actually the second fumble recovery of his career — but the second inside of two minutes in this game.

After Tony Romo hit Terrance Williams with the go-ahead touchdown pass, Detroit regained possession at its own 20 with 2:32 remaining. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has a history of rallying his team, winning 17 games with fourth-quarter comebacks, including the last two times he faced his hometown Cowboys.

On second down, Anthony Spencer sacked Stafford and forced a fumble. It bounced into the hands of Lawrence, who began channeling his inner DeMarco Murray. He had visions of taking it to the house.

But a stride into his gallop, Lawrence was drilled by Lions offensive lineman Garrett Reynolds, forcing another fumble. It was recovered by Detroit’s Riley Reiff. That gave the Lions a new set of downs with still two minutes to steal the victory. It was a shocking turnaround.

“I cussed him every name in the book except for Jesus,” Cowboys safety J.J. Wilcox said. “I’m a pusher. I push him hard. I got pushed hard when I got here, and I try to do the same thing to the rookies.”

Then Wilcox calmed down and spoke to Lawrence more as a big brother than as a teammate.

“Next time get down with it,” Wilcox told Lawrence. “You made a great play — so just finish the great play next time and stay down with it. Sometimes you want to do more. I’ve been guilty of it myself, running out of the end zone [with interceptions]. But you have to be smart and understand the situation.”

Then it was Lawrence’s turn to talk.

“I’m sorry, 27,” Lawrence told Wilcox. “I’m going to make up for it.”

And he did — eight snaps later after the Lions had moved to the Dallas 44. On fourth-and-3, Lawrence beat Reiff with a speed move and collared Stafford, wrenching the ball from his grip. Lawrence fell on it. And stayed down this time.

Game, Cowboys — and on to Green Bay.

“My team believed in me,” Lawrence said. “And I believed in myself. I had to go back out there and make something happen. I felt the team needed me to make a play. I missed a huge opportunity for us to seal the deal. I knew I had to go back out there and make something happen.”

Lawrence has needed something good to happen all season. The Cowboys thought so highly of him coming out of Boise State that they traded their second- and third-round selections to Washington in April for the right to draft Lawrence with the 34th overall pick.

Lawrence was going to be the edge rusher the Cowboys built future defenses around. But he missed the first eight games with a foot injury and had little impact in the seven games he did play, collecting only 11 tackles with no sacks or takeaways.

Lawrence came off the bench as part of Rod Marinelli’s defensive line rotation Sunday but had little to show for his playoff debut — just a 10-yard holding penalty on a punt return — before taking the field for that final set of Detroit downs.

Then came fumble recovery No. 1.

“It was a learning experience for him,” Spencer said. “He wanted to score. Everybody wants to score. That’s something we talk about in practice all the time — scooping and scoring. It was natural instincts for him. It happens.

“I told him to drop it. Let it go. Move on to the next play.”

Then fumble recovery No. 2.

“He grew up in an instant,” defensive end Jeremy Mincey said. “He is who I thought he was.”

An impact edge rusher. And now, a wiser one.
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,697
I hope this means Lawrence turns a corner. We are really going to need pressure on Rodgers on Sunday.
 

data

Forbes #1
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
50,293
Yeah, check the replay and see Wilcox ripping into Lawrence. :lol
 

Newt

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
1,148
Yeah, check the replay and see Wilcox ripping into Lawrence. :lol
That's exactly what we need though. Someone to hold players accountable. Props to Wilcox for that. We are starting to see some leaders on the field and it goes a long way when it comes to winning football games.
 

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
20,162
Lawrence showed me something the way he made up for his colossal screw up. Winners have a way of coming up big after failure, and his sack/strip/recovery won the game.
 

Carp

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
15,127
Lawrence showed me something the way he made up for his colossal screw up. Winners have a way of coming up big after failure, and his sack/strip/recovery won the game.
Completely agree...it was his wake up call. Hopefully we can look at that series as the one where he became a legit player.
 

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
Lawrence showed me something the way he made up for his colossal screw up. Winners have a way of coming up big after failure, and his sack/strip/recovery won the game.
What got me was that the move was outstanding and the way he explained how he set it shows he has some smarts.
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,697
What got me was that the move was outstanding and the way he explained how he set it shows he has some smarts.
His explosion after he got around his defender was pretty fucking sweet. He went from battling his guy to on top of Stafford in a blink.

 

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
His explosion after he got around his defender was pretty fucking sweet. He went from battling his guy to on top of Stafford in a blink.

Yeah that was a big time pass rush right there he showed some strength as well.

Frankly I had not seen this type of thing from him all year.
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
21,689
Yeah that was a big time pass rush right there he showed some strength as well.

Frankly I had not seen this type of thing from him all year.
He really didn't play too much this year. I would estimate 40 %.
 

Jiggyfly

Banned
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
9,220
He really didn't play too much this year. I would estimate 40 %.
He has played as much as anybody since the second injury and I never seen him show anything like this, he looked a little better getting off in the Colts game but this was a great show of burst and power.
 

22cowboysfan22

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2013
Messages
2,987
I have pretty high hopes for Lawrence. Give him a full offseason in our program and he should be a solid 8-10 sack guy next year with the potential to make the leap to an elite or at least top-tier pass rusher going forwards.
 

Simpleton

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
17,413
Lawrence is going to be a good player once he figures it out, maybe not a Pro Bowler or anything, but a starting caliber DE. I've seen a few flashes out of him the last few weeks, sometimes with near sacks like against the Skins and a few times where he's showed good speed/hustle in pursuit of ball-carriers 10-15 yards down field.

The guy only played 2 years in D1 I believe so missing basically all of training camp and the first 8 games of the year definitely had a big impact on him, and I think what he showed yesterday is enough to make anybody optimistic about his future.
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,453
Lawrence is going to be a good player once he figures it out, maybe not a Pro Bowler or anything, but a starting caliber DE. I've seen a few flashes out of him the last few weeks, sometimes with near sacks like against the Skins and a few times where he's showed good speed/hustle in pursuit of ball-carriers 10-15 yards down field.

The guy only played 2 years in D1 I believe so missing basically all of training camp and the first 8 games of the year definitely had a big impact on him, and I think what he showed yesterday is enough to make anybody optimistic about his future.
I agree, I think next year you will see him step into a starting role and be a productive player. He has the physical tools, it's evident when you watch him on the field. I think he just needs a little more development and more opportunities in passing situations.
 

kidd

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 28, 2013
Messages
2,377
I agree, I think next year you will see him step into a starting role and be a productive player. He has the physical tools, it's evident when you watch him on the field. I think he just needs a little more development and more opportunities in passing situations.
Hopefully, he'll have 3 more games this year to get those opportunities!
 

townsend

Banned
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
Messages
5,377
Lawrence and Spencer coming on during the postseason is the kind of thing we need to have a 2007 giants style run.
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
21,689
He has played as much as anybody since the second injury and I never seen him show anything like this, he looked a little better getting off in the Colts game but this was a great show of burst and power.
It takes a while for a rookie to makd the transition. He has the equivalent of a half season. Thats not much. Judge him like it is mid season.
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
121,730
Yeah that was a big time pass rush right there he showed some strength as well.

Frankly I had not seen this type of thing from him all year.
He's probably thinking too much. There is a lot of gap integrity stuff I have seen him doing.

Man, it would be nice if he went on a little tear here, springboarding off of this one turnaround.

Would make it so much easier in April to know he's capable of being an impact player instead of another Kavika Pittman or whatever.
 
Top Bottom