Tank was a non-factor in this game

[terra]

He plays the run very well but doesn’t get after the QB anymore for some reason. His big contract was for his ability to get after the QB not for playing the run well. He is not worth his cap hit.

That is the bottom line. To be blunt we could get someone else to do the same for a lot less cap space.
I think he will be a June 1 cut next year.

 

[stinkface]

He is no longer an elite pass rusher, full stop. However, he contributed to the win for sure. Sound run defense and held his edge well. The biggest factor at the end was we just got tired from being on the field for so long. Glad we made the kick. I think if it had gone into OT we might have had a tough time. Great win. No one give us a chance.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

I’m happy with the win, but Tank was a non-factor in this game. Zero sacks, and of limited utility otherwise.

Does anyone think Tank belongs on the back of a milk carton? Asking for a friend.

overall he got 7 year gauranteed contract. no one in NFL history ever got that type of contract with less performance.

 

[quickccc]

I thought he was pretty solid today? I think it’s time to acknowledge that Dlaw is not and never will be a premium sack guy in the league. He’s a much better run defender and showed up several times against the run.

I love that Quinn is pushing him down and lining him up at DT as a pass rusher. If he can be a 5-8 type sack guy predominantly rushing from the inside while parsons/Williams/Armstrong/etc worry about the edge it will have a ton of value.

-Flip and scheme him how you can, because he's not a difference maker .. he's not one defense have to account for .
He's more of a run defender than a sack mismatch.

-and with this board, they insist that teams have to double team him and that's why he is not having double digit sacks ..

-Its gonna have to be more of a collection of rushers, ala Fowler, Williams, Hill ..should Parson is slowed by injury

 

[Majic]

It's perfectly simple. He is a very good player that has been overpaid for large parts of his career based on his production. What he does he does very well, but the money should have been spent on other parts of the team.

 

[jwooten15]

I've been as hard on Lawrence as anybody, but I'm learning to appreciate what he brings to the team.

Do I think he's unbelievably limited as a pass rusher? For sure.

But he was wreaking havoc against the run yesterday.

I think a DE making $90 million should be more than just a run stopper, but it is what it is at this point. I've just stopped expecting him to get any sacks.

 

[Runwildboys]

2021 rushing yards against Dallas with and without DLaw in the lineup:


Without (7 wins 3 losses)

257 carries 1,128 yards 9 td 4.39 ypc

With (5 wins 2 losses)

172 carries 790 yards 2 td 4.59 ypc


So based on your statement Dallas should have been much worse against the run without DLaw being in the lineup yet stats show Dallas was actually giving up more yards per carry WITH DLaw in the lineup than without.
So is that type of production worth the $25M cap number DLaw counted against the Dallas team salary in 2021????

Could it possibly matter what teams were being played against? I'm sure there are a lot of other contributing factors as well. You know very well that you can't pull just one set of stats to reach a conclusion like this.

 

[jterrell]

I'm not sure anyone has explained modern defenses to many here but DLaw is a down lineman and not an edge.
He is an interior guy that fills inside/out.

He is not standing up and rushing off the edge.

He is still a very good DE but he is likely taking another pay cut or getting cut after the season.
I promise Stepehen doesn't need any help pointing out a player that appears overpaid. I assure you that dude is on the job of getting players who make over 5Ma year out of here.

 

[MyFairLady]

Anyone hoping for this bum to stand out and make game changing plays after getting yet another 30 million in guaranteed money given to him for no reason simply has not been paying attention to the mans career.

 

[USArmyVet]

Could it possibly matter what teams were being played against? I'm sure there are a lot of other contributing factors as well. You know very well that you can't pull just one set of stats to reach a conclusion like this.

Without DLaw opponents (total record 81-89)

LAC, Philly, CAR, NYG, NE, MINN, DEN, ATL, KC, LV

With DLaw opponents (total record 60-59)

TB, NO, WASH (2x), NYG, ARI, Philly

 

[Runwildboys]

Without DLaw opponents (total record 81-89)

LAC, Philly, CAR, NYG, NE, MINN, DEN, ATL, KC, LV

With DLaw opponents (total record 60-59)

TB, NO, WASH (2x), NYG, ARI, Philly

But you can't just go by their records over that span of time, because they aren't the same quality of team consistently over that span. Hell, most teams aren't the same week to week.

Also, did we lose or win because of our defense or our offense in a given example? Who else was playing on our team at the time? There are so many factors to wins and losses, that you can't just point to one player and say, "He was ineffective."

 

[goshann]

I swear the fans on this site are getting dumber and dumber. Tank was all over the field in the run game

 

[Teague31]

He’s a non factor in about 80% of the games. I know, I know, he does all the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet….

 

[MapleLeaf]

Do you even watch the game. Tank was right next Parson most of the time taking out blockers. Tank and Parson next to each other are a force.

I thing there are some fans who watch football by watching the football. That represents only 10% of the game IMO.

The other 90% is about the little things that happen in a game at each of the other 10 positions that are not in contact with the football.

Specific to this poster's thought I do believe he has missed a lot of the run assignments that DLaw took on and contributed to. How does one explain the 89 total yards of rushing that Cincy had with four runners? Or Mixon's 19 carries for 57 yards - a 3 yard average?

Clearly that can't all have been Micah doing all this by himself? Who disrupted most of the o-line blocking assignments and got involved with stopping the ball carrier?

It's easy to just sit back and watch the game with a beer in hand following the little brown object, but that is in no way the actual representation of how a player contributed to the outcome of the game or did or didn't do their assignments properly.

We all want to jump out of our undies whooping and hollering at all the things Micah does, but 100% of that doesn't happen if the others around him are not doing their jobs to give him the opportunity to make plays.

DLaw played a very good game yesterday to have 6 tackles from the defensive end position with one tackle for a loss. I wouldn't be calling him out so quickly.

 

[MapleLeaf]

They don't WATCH the game. They see it and look at the stat sheet.

Actually they are not looking at the stat sheet, and they are not able to interpret what Quinn is trying to do with Lawrence to make Micah more effective.

Demarcus' job is way more complex than Micah's. Dan is leaning heavily on DLaw to cover the run and stretch plays to his side, watch for the smoke routes and wheel routes coming out of the backfield and taking on the TE on the strong side.

Micah's role is closer to the "elephant" position. He can move himself to areas where the defence is the weakest. DLaw doesn't have that luxury - typically. This past game I saw him stout on the run at the edge, and when he did move it was to the inside where there is way more trash to work through.

 

[Cowfan75]

Hey, they've mentioned his name almost as many times as they did last season and it's only week 2, so...I'll take it. He's not going to be sacking QBs anymore, and we just know that.

 

[RonnieT24]

Y'all aren't watching the game well at all then because DLaw was a monster bs the run. I know yall want sacks, but to say he did nothing is way off.

These people claiming Tank was invisible are borderline retards. Why do people think Tampa had all its success running around LEFT end? Because when they tried running at Tank he blew it up. Brady was smart enough to figure that out and quit doin it. I did like that in this game they lined Tank up on both sides as well as inside and as a result the offense could not draw a bead on him or Parsons. The one play where Collins blocked Tank and left Parsons unblocked will get him criticized but people who know football know you have to block the guy closest to the ball. If he had stepped outside to block Parsons Lawrence would had an even shorter path to Burrow than Parsons did. It was great defensive alignment that left Collins to choose between to beasts with nobody there to help. It also underscores how crappy Cincy's offensive line scheme is.. Kinda reminds me of the Cowboys.....

 

[Mr_437]

Yes he was definitely getting some nice push and blew up several running plays to his side. As fans we seem to only pay attention to sacks.

Naturally...however as much as we stress stopping the run on this platform you would there'd be a little more appreciation for a guy dominating in that area.

 

[MyFairLady]

Great now we are defending D Flaw by saying that he does the hard work to allow Parsons to do his thing. Whatever. This stinks of the Zeke is a great blocker argument. You wanna be the war daddy. You wanna be the Hotboyz leader. You wanna make 20 million per year and cripple the teams salary cap. You gotta do better than that.

 

[IceStar-D7]

Let's just start calling the Tank-Casper. The friendly ghost.....