Cowboys’ DeMarcus Lawrence on pressuring Matt Ryan in win over Falcons

As far as DeMarcus Lawrence was concerned, it was the sort of matchup that would provide a major test for him and the rest of the Dallas Cowboys’ defense.

The Atlanta Falcons can score, and, the defensive end knew, if the Cowboys’ D did its job, it would be up to their offensive teammates to do the rest.

‘We knew coming into this game they had a high-scoring offense and all’

That was exactly how it played out in the Cowboys’ 22-19 victory Sunday.

“We knew coming into this game they had a high-scoring offense and all,” Lawrence, who had a sack-and-a-half, told Steve Torre and Bill Lekas on The Sunday Drive. “But we knew we’re one of the best defenses in the league right now, so it was really going to be a matchup and we just put more pressure on our offense to rack up points, which they did.

‘We already knew the pass rush had to be alive’

“We understood our details, our responsibility, their speed at wide receiver with Julio (Jones), (Calvin) Ridley and (Mohamed) Sanu. So we already knew the pass rush had to be alive to get after the quarterback in order to stop the passing game.”

Lawrence said he fully anticipated that the Cowboys’ defensive front would have plenty of opportunities to put heat on Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who was sacked three times and hit nine times.

‘We knew their offensive line was a little banged up’

“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Lawrence said. “We knew their offensive line was a little banged up, so it was really … just get off the ball and tackle them on each and every down. The guys went out there and did that.”

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