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‘Ta-Dah! I win!’: Cowboys DE Tank Lawrence on ‘3 moves’ and ‘Chess’ at New Orleans

‘Ta-Dah! I win!’: Cowboys DE Tank Lawrence on ‘3 moves’ and ‘Chess’ at New Orleans

Mike Fisher

‘Ta-Dah! I win!’: Cowboys DE Tank Lawrence on ‘3 moves’ and ‘Chess’ at New Orleans
‘Ta-Dah! I win!’: Cowboys DE Tank Lawrence on ‘3 moves’ and ‘Chess’ at New Orleans /

NEW ORLEANS - For Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, pass-rushing is about both ferocity and finesse. It’s about football “moves” that are also a series of chess moves.

“It’s all about the chess match,” Lawrence says, “and taking advantages when you have them.”

Tank, who now bookends with Robert Quinn to give 3-0 Dallas a pair of highly-credentialed “QB hunters,” says he enters each outing with a particular bag of tricks.

“I try to go into each game with three different moves,” he says. “One of them might be the same move, but it’s basically trying to work counters off (the opposing blockers’) moves.”

The origin of this conversation, as the Cowboys prepare for a Sunday night test at New Orleans, is the “Boobie Spin.” Inspired by Boobie Miles and “Friday Night Lights” (and by the Miles letter jacket Lawrence wore before and after last week’s pounding of Miami), the spin move’s unveiling was originally planned for early in the game. But then, Tank says, he looked up to see “four guys” lined up to block him.

Aside from what I think is a slight exaggeration, Lawrence’s point is well-made in the sense that it’s as much about timing and strategy as it is about quickness and strength. (And yes, as he's double-teamed 35 percent of the time this year, more than any other edge-rusher in the NFL, he does see lots of blockers ...)

He uses a baseball pitcher’s analogy for emphasis.

“You’ve got to give (blockers) an illusion (that it seems) every time it’s a fastball,” he says. “But when that bitch sinks, now what ...?”

"Now what?'' Now this, when the time was right ...

“Now what” is that Dallas’ best defensive player keeps racking up numbers (35.5 sacks in 67 games) and accolades (two Pro Bowls so far, all in line with the $105 million extension he signed in April.). Coaches recognize what he does as an all-around contributor even in weeks when the sacks don’t pile up.

Says Saints coach Sean Payton: "He’s disruptive in so many ways. He’s a guy I’d say is complete as a defensive end — his get-off, his instincts, he’s got really good hips and really good athleticism. He can edge you and create penetration and problem. He’s one of those elite defensive ends and you’ve got to account for him."

Meanwhile, for Tank, it’s about the game within the game. Yes, there is the big picture of preparing specifically for the Saints. This week he semi-mocked their motto "Who Dat?'' by saying of his "Hot Boyz'' defensive front, "We Dat.'' He also reached into his locker stall when asked about the Saints missing injured QB Drew Brees and replacing him with Teddy Bridgewater. Inside the locker was a T-shirt inscribed with one of many of coach Jason Garrett's bumper-sticker inspirations.

“We wear this three-letter word on our shirts and it’s ‘IDM.’ It means, ‘It doesn’t matter,'' Tank says. "So we played Brees last year and we came out with the win. Now we got Teddy Bridgewater and we got to come out with the win. It really doesn’t matter who we’re playing. It’s all about doing our job.”

Part of Tank's job is being the talkative leader of a defense that finds itself inspired to live up to his boasts. That happened last year, in Week 13, when Lawrence announced before the Saints-at-Dallas game, "If you hit a (expletive) in the mouth and they ain’t doing what they regularly doing, and putting up 50 points, and they start to get a little distressed. So now you got them where you want them at and then [expletive] choke their ass out.” 

Dallas' defense dominated in that one. The Cowboys won, 13-10.

That's one sort of game. The other is “just playing that chess match,'' he says, "of “Speed, speed, speed” and then (I) counter off it.”

Tank then details the footwork of the influenced blocker (“I need you to kick in, 1-2-3, and now you’re like, ‘I know where he’s going to be at”), how he then makes adjustments mid-rush (“I tighten up on you; I’m in the middle of it”) and the victim’s reaction ;”You got to stop your feet, but can’t until you put your hands on somebody, and ...”) ...

And?

“And,” Professor Lawrence finishes his presentation with dramatic flair, “Ta-dah! I win!”

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.

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