Seahawks’ DeMarcus Lawrence backs up words with ‘dominant’ performance

Five-time Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence felt responsible for the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive woes in the red zone.

“They’re attacking my C-gap,” Lawrence said last week, back when the Seahawks had allowed touchdowns on an NFL-worst 83.3% of their opponents’ red-zone trips. “I have to play with my awareness and play better football down there in the red zone.

“I’m man enough to sit up here and tell the world that I understand what’s going on. I see what’s going on. It’s my responsibility to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Lawrence followed through in Seattle’s 17-3 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

With Arizona facing first-and-goal from the 4-yard line with six minutes remaining, Lawrence shot through a gap between the right tackle and tight end and took down running back Tyler Allgeier for a 2-yard loss. It helped lead to a goal-line stand that preserved the Seahawks’ 14-point lead and essentially squashed any hopes of a Cardinals comeback.

“Where we fall short doesn’t fall on D-Law’s shoulders,” head coach Mike Macdonald said after Sunday’s game. “Everyone knows that. But for someone of that kind of pedigree to take that type of responsibility and accountability is pretty special.

“He’s awesome. He played great today. We definitely follow his lead.”

It was part of a standout performance for Lawrence, who finished with a sack, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a quarterback hit.

“He played a dominant football game,” Macdonald told Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Monday morning. “I just think he had a fantastic game.”

SACKED BY D-LAW 😤 -6! @TankLawrence

📺: @NFLonFOX https://t.co/d6U4zc1iEL

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 8, 2026

Lawrence entered Sunday without a sack this season, despite ranking seventh among edge rushers in ESPN’s pass rush win rate. He finally got rewarded in the second half, when he took down quarterback Gardner Minshew for a third-down sack.

Lawrence now has 68.5 sacks over his decorated 13-year career, which will come to a close after this season.

“It felt good, man,” Lawrence said of the sack. “Just to be out there and playing the game that I love – at the end of the day, y’all have to understand, this is it for me. This is going to be my last season playing, so whenever I have the opportunity to go out there and play with my brothers, I’m trying to put my best foot forward.

“And luckily, I got a sack today.”

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