Getting pressure hasn’t necessarily been the problem for Dallas’ defense, it’s getting the quarterback down to the ground that has evaded them. How do they turn pressures into sacks?
“Once you get to the level of the quarterback, instead of focusing on getting a big hit on him or lunging at him, gather your feet and just get your body on him and get him down,” Clark said. “A sack is going to be a sack regardless of if you get a big hit or not. That’s our main focus. We’re doing a good job at getting there, getting quarterbacks off the spot, now we’ve got to play with our extension, be a little bit more greedy retracing and doing all that stuff, getting off blocks and making sure we get the guy down.”
Ezeiruaku is the team’s leader in pressures on the quarterback through two games with nine. He’s ready for those to become sacks.
“It’s very frustrating, especially being my hardest critic,” Ezeiruaku said of his pressures that haven’t become sacks. “That’s just something that was emphasized especially this week. Even today in practice, that was the biggest emphasis for me as well as the rest of the outside linebacker.”
Dallas’ work will be cut out for them with Jackson on the ground, but Ezeiruaku pointed out how impressive Jackson is a passer as well.
“How versatile he is,” Ezeiruaku said when asked what he admired about Jackson. “How he’s honed is as being a quarterback who can sit in the pocket, take hits, deliver big shots down the field. But at the same time, we all know what it is, he can run that ball too. That’s something that’s very admirable. It’s a different beast when you got to go up against it and you’re preparing and locking in throughout the week.”
And if Jackson isn’t able to run the ball, the Ravens also have 6’3, 252 pound RB Derrick Henry by his side. That combination speaks for itself.
“It is very unique,” Ezeiruaku said. “For a guy who’s probably bigger than me, playing running back, you’ve got to take out the legs, that’s the only way to stop a guy like that from running the ball. Easier said than done like it is with Lamar, but it’ll be a really good challenge.”
The Cowboys will be back on the practice fields preparing for that challenge on Wednesday and Thursday, and depart for Brazil on Thursday to get face Jackson, Henry and the rest of the Ravens offense.