Shocking Dexter Lawrence box score does not tell the whole story

Newly acquired Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was brought in from the New York Giants to bolster a defense that was among the bottom of the league in the last few years.

While a glance at the box score might indicate that Lawrence didn't do much, his impact on the field was a massive help for the Bengals en route to a Week 1 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Lawrence and the Bengals defense failed to force a Buccaneers punt, but they did generate four turnovers throughout the course of the game. If the Bengals can continue to force turnovers at that rate, they will have difficulty filling up the loss column. The Last time a team lost four fumbles and still managed to win the game was in 2010 when the Arizona Cardinals beat the St. Louis Rams.

The gravity of Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence allows fellow defenders to make plays

An uninspired perusal of the box score shows Lawrence had zero sacks, zero tackles and zero forced fumbles. One of the reasons Lawrence's impact as a defender doesn't show up in the box score is that one of the most important aspects of his job as an interior defensive lineman is to free up his teammates.

Lawrence's presence didn't only help generate turnovers, but it also allowed other players on the front seven to fill up their box scores. As a team, the Bengals were credited with four sacks against Tampa Bay, two of which came from other interior defensive linemen. Fellow Bengals newcomer Jonathan Allen's sack came from a stunt with Lawrence that only worked because of the Buccaneers' decision to double-team Lawrence.

One turnover came after pressure from Lawrence, who posted the highest pressure rate of all Bengals defenders at 18.2%, forcing Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield to scramble and eventually fumble.

Other beneficiaries of Lawrence's presence are young linebackers Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. The two linebackers, who combined to make up Pro Football Focus's last-ranked linebacker group in 2025, both showed significant improvement.

Knight ranked 83rd out of 88 linebackers with a 40.2 average grade in 2025, and Carter was just behind him with an 85th-out-of-88 ranking and a 39.5 average grade. After Week 1, Knight Jr. and Carter are ranked 38th and 13th, respectively, out of 64 qualified linebackers, a massive improvement despite the small sample size.

A big defensive tackle that draws attention from the offensive line and eats up double-teams like Lawrence frees linebackers like Knight Jr. and Carter up to get downhill fast and make stops in the run game and/or put pressure on the quarterback.

Sexy Dexy's veteran presence was felt

Sometimes the veteran presence of the player on the field is something that can't be proven or quantified, but Lawrence made a play that was the quintessential example of a savvy veteran move in the victory over the Buccaneers.

Lawrence and defensive end Myles Murphy put quick pressure on Mayfield, causing him to roll out and get sacked, forcing a fumble. With a loose ball tumbling around on the field, Lawrence came sliding in to prevent a recovery by Tampa Bay. This allowed Knight Jr. to scoop up the fumble and score a touchdown, giving the Bengals all the momentum in the first half.

Not only did pressure from Lawrence force Mayfield to roll out, which led to the fumble, but Lawrence was savvy enough to know that he was better off preventing a recovery from the offense and freeing up a quicker player to scoop up the ball and have a chance to put points on the board. Watching the 350-pound defensive lineman in open space may have been more exciting for the viewers, but Lawrence's selfless, veteran play helped catapult the Bengals to a week-one win.

Astute situational awareness wasn't the only way in which Lawrence's veteran presence helped the Bengals defense. Even though he won the highest percentage of true pass rush sets (36.2%) out of any Defensive interior player in the NFL, it was the attitude he helped bring that stood out to viewers.

Lawrence said he knows the importance of the physicality brought by the defense as it relates to the rest of the time when he was interviewed postgame by Mike Petraglia.

“We know the team goes as we go, so we put that responsibility on our back, and we knew we needed to play physical and strong and with a motor, and that's what we did,” said Lawrence.

Fans and viewers could sense the physicality and change in attitude from the Bengals defense. In years past, the defense struggled to control games and found itself backpedaling in its effort to keep up with opposing teams.

1. the Bengals are bullies??

-@mikegolicjr

2. That new Bengals defense 💰 💰 had a little different feel to it.

-@colincowherd

3. BENGALS DEFENSE IS BACK??

-@Pick6PackFB

4. The Bengals currently have the best defense in football Just like we all expected

-@NFL_Convo

5. I guess the Bengals defense is different this year. They already matched the 2025 defensive TD total:

-@TheSports_Geek

Lawrence and the Bengals defense look to carry momentum into Week 2 as they take on the Houston Texans, a team that is considered to be one of the favorites to come out of the AFC this season.

Houston gave up three sacks and fumbled twice in their loss to the Buffalo Bills, but they did manage to put up 31 points. The Bengals will have more opportunities to create pressure and force turnovers, but they aren't exactly going up against an inept offense.

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