New York Giants: Elite Defender Will Play in Week 8

The 2-5 New York Giants travel to Pennsylvania to play against the 5-2 Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium for their eighth regular season game on Monday Night Football. So far, the Giants defense has improved in Shane Bowen’s first year as the defensive coordinator, ranking in the upper half in points allowed, total yards, passing offense, and sacks. They rank 14th in points, 14th in total yards, 9th in passing, and 1st in sacks.

Their elite defensive lineman deserves a ton of credit.

The New York Giants DT is having another phenomenal season

Dexter Lawrence II is having a phenomenal start to his sixth season in the National Football League and is an early Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Through seven games, he has 24 tackles, seven TFLs, 13 QB hits, and nine sacks, per Pro Football Reference. He also has 29 pressures, 16 stops, an 81.1 pass rush, an 83.8 run defense, and a 90.0 PFF grade h/t PFF. He’s ranked 6th in pass rush grade, 1st in run defense grade, and 2nd in overall PFF grade among qualified defensive linemen who have played at least 20% of snaps.

What’s even more impressive is that Lawrence has been battling an injury for the past few weeks.

Dexter Lawerence II injured his hip a few weeks ago

Lawrence popped up on Week 7’s injury report with a hip injury. He did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday of that week but participated in Friday’s practice in a limited fashion. He played last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. He feasted against their division rivals, recording five tackles, two TFLs, two QB hits, and two sacks in 59.1% of defensive snaps, his lowest snap total on the season.

He is ready to go

Dexter Lawrence II participated in a limited fashion on Friday and Saturday after missing Thursday’s practice. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the New York Giants have removed Lawrence and Brian Burns from the injury report and both players should play against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Giants’ defensive line and pass rush should have a favorable matchup over the Steelers’ injury-depleted offensive line.

#Giants DT Dexter Lawrence and DE Brian Burns are off the injury report and good to go Monday night vs. Pittsburgh.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 26, 2024

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