Category: Micah Parsons

Cowboys’ Micah Parsons extra-motivated for playoffs: ‘I’m going to be phenomenal’

From @ToddBrock24f7: Snubbed for 2 All-Pro lists this week and now maybe losing his defensive coordinator, Parsons could take it out on the Packers this Sunday.

Cowboys fans tuning in this Sunday to see the team’s postseason journey begin might find themselves a little confused at first. The TV guide may say “Cowboys vs. Packers,” but what’s playing out on the screen could very well look like an episode of Wild Kingdom at AT&T Stadium.

Because Micah Parsons just might eat an opposing player right there on the field.

The third-year edge rusher certainly has no shortage of motivation as the team heads into the wild-card round. Any one of these factors all by itself is enough to put Green Bay’s offensive linemen on the endangered species list, but put them all together, and the lion is primed to feast.

First, consider the NFLPA All-Pro list, which came out Wednesday. This roster, voted on by the league’s players themselves, put Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby at edge rusher, despite the fact that Parsons had a higher overall grade, a higher pass rush grade, more quarterback hits, and more quarterback hurries than the Raiders great.

Parsons brushed off the slight, saying it didn’t bother him.

“If you look at some of the names on there, you can just tell people are just writing down names,” he explained. “So it’s not something that really matters, at least to players.”

Maybe. But then the job interview requests kept flooding in for his defensive coordinator. By midweek, Dan Quinn had the Panthers, Commanders, Chargers, and Titans officially courting him, and he was informally the leading candidate to take over in Seattle, where he spent several highly successful seasons a decade ago.

Parsons and Quinn came to Dallas within months of each other in 2021, with the first-round draft pick speaking of Quinn as almost a father figure more than a coach. So there’s extra urgency for Parsons to make this Cowboys postseason trip count, in case Quinn leaves.

“He means a lot to me because it’s not just about football,” Parsons said. “It could possibly be my last ride with Q. And if it is, we’re going to make sure it’s a damn good one.”

And now there’s the All-Pro Team. Friday saw the Associated Press release its list of 2023 honorees, and Parsons has missed making the first team for the first time in his short career. Garrett and T.J. Watt took those first-team edge rusher spots this year; Parsons and Crosby were relegated to the second team.

For the ultra-competitive Parsons, that likely won’t sit well. We’re talking about a guy who takes it as a personal affront when he’s not the best at anything, be it “Madden” or chess or locker-room hamper-basketball or sparring in the gym.

When Parsons showed up at the charity home run derby and found out the softball bats in the dugout were of the community-use variety, he famously sent someone to a nearby sporting goods store to buy him the best aluminum dinger-stick in stock.

He practically pulled something at the Pro Bowl in a 40-yard sprint-off with a casually coasting Tyreek Hill just for the bragging rights to say he beat The Cheetah.

Parsons can say none of it bothers him. Sure, Jan.

Or is it more likely that he’ll take the field this Sunday feeling like he still has plenty to prove to a few people?

Former Cowboys wide receiver and current Hanging’ With the Boys host Jesse Holley thinks it may start with Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker.

“He has no anchor. He’s not a nasty left tackle,” Holley said during the show this week. “Micah Parsons is going to abuse him.”

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If that’s what it takes to throw a few more sacks on the 14 Parsons amassed during the regular schedule, so be it. Because all those stats and everything it took just to get into the dance are one thing, but after a year where Parsons watched part-time mentor DeMarcus Ware attain football immortality in both the Hall of Fame and the Cowboys Ring of Honor, Parsons has more on his mind than regular-season accomplishments.

“The regular season is cute. But this is legacy. … ‘Be phenomenal or be forgotten.'”

That’s what Parsons said following the Week 18 game.

Now, snubbed for two different all-star squads, faced with possibly losing his defensive mentor, and on the precipice of Wild Card Weekend, he’s calling his shot.

“I’m going to be phenomenal,” he said. “[Expletive] phenomenal.”

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‘He said I could have done something’: Cowboys’ Parsons bewildered over roughing penalty

From @ToddBrock24f7: Micah Parsons had plenty to say about officiating after he was flagged for what he feels was a clean hit on Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa.

In Micah Parsons’s mind, he did all the right things, but it still wasn’t enough.

That could actually be the story of the Cowboys defense as a whole on Sunday. As a unit, they held the explosive Dolphins to just one play of over 22 yards. No Miami player rushed for more than 46 yards on the day. Dallas allowed just one touchdown to the league’s top scoring offense.

But it was the little things that doomed the Cowboys. Like five Jason Sanders field goals. And penalties- some big-ticket calls at key moments, some ignored calls that could have gone Dallas’s way, and one head-scratcher against Parsons that he couldn’t adequately explain afterward.

“I don’t know what a roughing the passer is anymore,” Parsons told reporters after the 22-20 loss on Sunday. “[The official] said I could have done something in some manner to avoid him.”

Parsons delivered a hard shot to the back of Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa late in the second quarter that drew the flag. Already deep in Cowboys territory, the flag moved the Fins just five yards closer, and Miami scored on the next play to secure a halftime lead.

While the Dolphins’ lone touchdown could have just as easily come from the nine-yard-line as it did the four, the roughing call got into the head of Parsons, who’s been desperate the get officials’ attention on the numerous plays this season where he’s held by opposing linemen.

“I can’t get a call, but I get things called on me,” he said. “So obviously, they’re looking. They just don’t care what they call… as long as it’s just not with us.”

That last quip could earn Parsons a fine from the league, but the fact remains that he hasn’t drawn a penalty of any kind since Week 9’s win over the Chargers. That’s over two months where the most dominant pass rusher in the league hasn’t been held a single time? Cowboys fans watching the games know otherwise.

So does Parsons.

“It’s mind-blowing, the things that are getting called and the positions we get put in,” he said. “The thing is, we’ve just got to learn how to fight the adversity. A lot of it’s BS, and we’re like, ‘It’s just football plays,’ but it’s the world we live in. We’ve got the star on the helmet.”

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Parsons’s roughing penalty wasn’t a game-changer, as were some of the other flags called against Dallas on the day. But this one haunted the young pass rusher who prides himself on being able to beat anyone in the league without resorting to rule-breaking.

“I won so quick. How am I supposed to know he got the ball out? It’s within a second,” Parsons explained at his locker.

“He said my intent was to punish the quarterback. But how am I trying to punish him if I’m just trying to sack him? It’s not like it’s a late hit. It’s not like I’m leaving my feet. I didn’t lead with my head. I don’t know how you make that call.”

But they did. And Parsons believes they’ll continue to do so.

And that’s something he and his Cowboys teammates will simply have to overcome.

“At the end of the day,” he said, “we’ve just got to win these type of games.”

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Micah Parsons battling flu; Cowboys expect him to play vs Eagles

From @ToddBrock24f7: The two-time All-Pro was added to the injury report early Sunday, but the Cowboys don’t believe his playing time vs Philly will be affected.

Cue up the Michael Jordan memes and maybe get an IV bag ready, just in case. Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons has come down with an illness but is expected to play Sunday night when the division-leading Eagles pay a visit to AT&T Stadium.

The team added Parsons to their injury report just prior to the kickoff of Week 14’s early-afternoon slate. As per Ed Werder of ESPN, a virus has been working its way through the Cowboys locker room; it apparently hit quarterback Dak Prescott last week.

Parsons is dealing with flu-like symptoms, and although the Cowboys do not expect his playing time to be affected Sunday night, it will be a situation worth watching in what is expected to be a fiercely-contested matchup of longtime rivals.

Parsons is currently leading the Cowboys defense in sacks this season, with 11.5 through 12 games, and he is a viable candidate to win Defensive Player of the Year.

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The two-time All-Pro won’t be the only one suiting up for Dallas tonight in less-than-ideal physical condition; head coach Mike McCarthy had his appendix removed in emergency surgery on Wednesday but says he will handle all his usual sideline and play-calling duties for Sunday night’s NFC East showdown.

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‘Not a good strategy’: Cowboys’ Micah Parsons left unblocked on purpose on Seattle’s final play

From @ToddBrock24f7: Even Parsons was shocked at how quickly he found himself in the backfield on Seattle’s last gasp Thursday. Turns out, they let him come.

With 1:11 to play and facing a do-or-die 4th-and-2 from the midfield logo, the Seattle Seahawks needed to convert one play to keep their final drive alive if they hoped to reach the end zone and pull out a comeback win over the Cowboys.

Less than two seconds after the ball was snapped, though, the Seahawks’ fate was sealed. Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons had darted around Seattle running DeeJay Dallas and, completely untouched, was making a beeline for quarterback Geno Smith. Smith drifted backward, trying to buy just enough time for a receiver to come open.

With Parsons in his face a full 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, Smith pushed a desperate sidearm toss toward his running back. It fell harmlessly to the turf, and the Cowboys ran out the clock for a 41-35 win in a thrilling back-and-forth affair.

It was one of the few highlights of the night for Parsons, who ended the game with an uncharacteristic and relatively quiet two tackles, three QB hits, and zero sacks.

But the most surprising part of the game’s final play? It was exactly how the Seahawks had drawn it up.

“It is the design,” Smith confirmed to reporters in a postgame press conference.

It’s a bold strategy, Pete Carroll. Let’s see if it pays off.

The Ringer‘s Benjamin Solak broke down how it was supposed to go.

While former NFL offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz weighed in to explain that Seattle’s concept was actually slightly different from the Notre Dame/Navy example in terms of the O-line responsibilities, he agrees that the running back (Dallas) doesn’t end up where he’s supposed to be for the play to work.

Smith also admitted as much after the game.

“The right tackle had to squeeze- right there versus zero [-blitz], so he did the right thing. Micah came free. We knew that would possibly happen. I tried to get the ball around him and just wasn’t able to,” Smith said.

“We thought DeeJay could slip through there, and we could get him the ball in the flat. He wasn’t able to get through there, kind of got held up. And that’s kind of how the play went.”

What held Dallas up? As Solak points out, it’s Lawrence, the Cowboys’ other starting defensive end, who was lined up to the inside of Parsons on this play.

“Sometimes teams have what they call a peel with the end, where if the back releases, then the end will peel. Parsons will peel,” Smith explained. “On that play it was an all-out, so he continued to rush.”

Parsons himself was surprised at how quickly he was able to get into the backfield.

“Yeah for sure,” Parsons told reporters after the game. “I feel like I was getting there pretty fast all game. Geno was doing a great job, just getting the ball out fast. And that’s not something he had on film, where it was just quick-game all game.”

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It turns out Smith and the Seahawks had practiced all week on getting the ball out of his hands quickly, in preparation of the Cowboys’ pass rush. He was sacked just once on the night, due in large part to a 2.54-second average time to throw, his quickest of the season.

Even with a hair-trigger, that final play was a gamble, to be sure: to beat Parsons- one of the most dominant game-wreckers in the league- by leaving him totally unblocked, letting him come scot-free, and throwing the ball- either right past his earhole to an inexperienced running back in the flat… or to DK Metcalf, who had already torched the Cowboys for 134 yards and three touchdowns and was wide open.

 

Seattle is no stranger to making bizarre short-yardage play-call decisions when the game is literally on the line. Remember how Super Bowl XLIX ended? In that nail-biter, the Seahawks didn’t rely on their superstud running back (Marshawn Lynch) when they needed a yard.

On Thursday in Arlington, they relied too heavily on a third-string rusher when they needed twice that.

“I think they left the back on me,” Parsons said afterward. “That’s not a good strategy, either.”

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Week 13 Odds: Cowboys-Seahawks, Prescott MVP, playoff chances, DPOY for Bland, Parsons

Pending MNF, the Cowboys will have the week’s largest margin of victory in for the 5th time in ’23. Deservedly, they have one of the largest spreads and several post-season award candidates entering Week 13.

There’s one game left in the NFL schedule for Week 12, as the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears prepare to square off on Monday Night Football. The NFC North rivals will face off, and they’re fans certainly care, but the rest of the NFL world is more than likely already looking ahead to the Week 13 slate.

For the Dallas Cowboys, their focus is on the Seattle Seahawks, who they will square off with on Thursday Night Football, a week after the two teams had decidedly different results from their Thanksgiving games. And while all of the players are focused on team goals, performing their best as individuals is how they help achieve those goals.

So it’s not selfish for Dak Prescott to want to play well enough he continues to earn MVP conversation. It’s still team-centric for Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland to improve their odds to win Defensive Player of the Year.

Here’s a look at the Cowboys-related lines, according to BetMGM as of Monday, November 27 8 am Central.

‘I want the big plays’: Cowboys’ Parsons looks to hunt against pass-happy Rams

From @ToddBrock24f7: Parsons says the Rams are better than their 3-4 record; the Cowboys D-line hopes to add to their sack totals by getting to Matthew Stafford.

The Los Angeles Rams are not like a box of chocolates. You actually do know what you’re going to get.

For instance, quarterback Matthew Stafford has the third-highest number of passing attempts this season and the fourth-most passing yards in the league. So Cowboys linebacker/defensive end Micah Parsons and the rest of the Dallas defense can almost certainly count on plentiful opportunities to wreak havoc with a frequent pass rush.

“If they pass it 50 times,” Parsons told reporters this week at The Star, “I wish I could have 50 sacks.”

Stafford is averaging slightly fewer pass plays that that this year, putting it up an average of 36.6 times a contest and having good statistical success through the air, though it hasn’t necessarily translated to wins.

Even with the rival Eagles on deck in Week 9, Parsons isn’t looking past the former first-round draft pick with over 53,000 career passing yards who’ll be coming home to line up on the other side at AT&T Stadium this Sunday.

“He’s a Super Bowl champion,” Parsons said of Stafford, a Highland Park native. “He knows how to make all the passes, all the reads, look you off, things like that. Super dynamic. The [3-4] record doesn’t show how really good they are. We’ve definitely got our hands full going in to this Sunday.”

And that’s despite already knowing how the Rams will line up most of the time, thanks to an offense that’s long been constructed around a heavy foundation of 11 personnel. That one running back/one tight end configuration maximizes the team’s wide receiver tandem of All-Pro Cooper Kupp and rookie sensation Puka Nacua. Both are in the league’s top five in receiving yards per game. Even L.A.’s third option, Tutu Atwell, has more receiving yards this season than the Cowboys’ WR2 and WR3- Michael Gallup and Brandin Cooks- combined.

“They’re basically saying, ‘We’re going to do this, and you’ve just got to stop it,'” Parsons explained. “And they’ve been very successful with it. It speaks to who they believe in. They believe in their skills guys, they believe in what they have. That’s what it’s all about.”

For Parsons and Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s defensive front, it will be all about getting to Stafford before he can find Kupp, Nacua, and Atwell downfield.

Stafford, however, is used to the heat. He’s been sacked 18 times already in 2023, tied for sixth-most across all passers. And a staggering 17 of those sacks have come in the last five games.

One of the keys for Parsons, who leads the Cowboys with five sacks, will be to give the Rams offensive line extra things to think about, like, “where I’m going to be at, how to find me,” he says. “Dan’s been doing a great job in putting me inside, outside, things like that that make it harder for them.”

Parsons is coming off a bit of a slump, at least relatively speaking. Until he dropped Justin Herbert on the next-to-last play in which the Chargers offense held the ball in Week 6, Parsons hadn’t had a sack since Week 3. Not since his rookie season had he gone three straight outings without a sack.

“I’ve got to do a better job of creating more opportunities for myself,” Parsons explained.

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Now rested and refreshed coming off the bye week, he looks to put himself back in the conversation as one of the most feared and prolific defenders in the game.

“You’ve just got to try to be as consistent as possible,” said Parsons. “Never get too high, never get too low. Understand that people are trying to take you out of the game, people don’t want you to ruin the game. You’ve just got to be a guy that’s willing to risk it all. Every time I step on that field, obviously, I want the big plays, the sacks, and I want to be as dynamic as possible.”

As long as they stay true to form, Stafford and the Rams should give the Lion- and the rest of the Cowboys pack- ample opportunity to hunt.

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Parsons or Prescott? Who is the Cowboys MVP through six weeks?

The leaders of each side of the ball certainly have reasonable claims, but just who is the club’s most valuable piece so far? | From @ReidDHanson

The Cowboys are 4-2 coming off the bye and find themselves in the thick of the hunt. San Francisco inexplicably lost their last two contests meaning Dallas has the second fewest losses in the NFC through seven weeks.

The opening stretch was rocky, and many questions remain as the Cowboys move into the meat of their schedule. But Dallas owes thanks to a couple key players for keeping the team alive while they navigated the treacherous seas of Week 1 through Week 6.

When determining MVP, it’s natural to immediately think of the man under center and chief offensive signal caller. Without their franchise QB, there’s no telling what fate would have handed the 2023 Cowboys. Outside of the stinker in San Francisco, Dak Prescott has been the model of efficiency for the Cowboys.

McCarthy has appeared to pull back on the reins and asked Prescott to operate a more conservative offense in 2023. The strategy has received mixed reviews.

But Prescott has endured and performed like the top-10 passer many know him to be. Without his play, the Cowboys would probably be lucky to be .500 at the bye, so appreciation is certainly due the 30-year-old.

But naming a QB the MVP is almost too obvious because it usually goes without saying. For as long as there’s the forward pass, QB’s will be king in the NFL. So, for the purposes of this exercise, Prescott is not in the running for Cowboys MVP.

The next most valuable player through Wsix weeks shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. He’s currently in the running for Defensive Player of the Year and has been deemed as a generational talent by many.

It’s none other than Micah Parsons.

Parsons, the Cowboys premier edge rusher, is on pace for over 104 pressures and over 14 sacks this season. He’s a moveable weapon for Dallas, rushing from bothleft and right side with equal efficiency.

The Cowboys have lined him up inside and ran him on stunts against players almost twice his size and he’s created havoc every step of the way.

When the Cowboys lost Leighton Vander Esch to a neck injury, Parsons took on an added workload, digesting some of the snaps at off-ball LB in Week 6. He’s been willing to do what Dan Quinn has asked of him and he’s playing in a pass-rushing unit that’s regarded as one of the best in the NFL.

Even with the bye week, Parsons is third in the NFL in total pressures. If he can physically hold up, he should be able to challenge for the top spot by season’s end and maybe win an award along the way.

Without Parsons on this Dallas roster, the entire defense would suffer. Teams would shift their double-teams to DeMarcus Lawrence and Osa Odighizuwa, which would likely have a negative result on their respective impacts as pass rushers.

The LB corps would be further thinned, leaving more work to players like Markquese Bell, Jayron Kearse and Damone Clark.

His absence would also give passers more time in the pocket and allow receivers more time to gain separation. With the loss of Trevon Diggs, the Cowboys aren’t as secure at CB as they’d like to be. They rely on the pass rush to hurry passes and assist their depleted CB group.

Parsons is what separates this defense from all the other good offenses in the league right now. He’s the MVP six games into the season and big reason continued success should be expected from the Cowboys as they come out of the bye week.

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Micah Parsons proves he’s just as impactful on Cowboys with more off-ball snaps

Micah Parsons proved he can take on an added workload off-ball without impacting his effectiveness as the Cowboys top EDGE rusher. | From @ReidDHanson

When Leighton Vander Esch was placed on IR following a neck injury in Week 5, concern rained down from the heavens. Not only was there concern about Vander Esch’s long-term health, but there was also concern about how the Cowboys would fill his void on the defense.

Dallas was already paper thin at LB and options were limited in free agency. Out of pure necessity, Micah Parsons was expected to see more snaps as an off-ball LB, which would likely impact his role as a pass rusher.

Parsons, a converted LB, knows how to play off-ball well. He played a traditional LB role at Penn State exclusively and was drafted as such by Dallas back in 2021. He started with Dallas off-ball and only when needs forced him to play on the line as rookie, did the Cowboys truly discover what they had in Parsons – a transcendent pass rusher.

Since pass-rushers impact the game exponentially more than off-ball players, the Cowboys rarely moved Parsons back to a traditional LB role. They still moved him around the line in search of matchups, but rarely have they asked him to play truly off-ball.

The idea of losing him on the defensive line in order to play a role on the second level was enough to frighten anyone.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul only makes sense if Paul is more important. It would be like skipping the mortgage payment in order to afford Netflix. It was an example in misplaced priorities.

Cowboys LB Micah Parsons named NFC Defensive Player of the Month

From @ToddBrock24f7: Add another award to the trophy case for the third-year hybrid LB. He’s the fourth Cowboy to win the monthly honor.

Micah Parsons had himself quite a September.

Through three games, the Cowboys hybrid linebacker has already registered 12 tackles, four sacks, 15 quarterback pressures, five tackles for loss, a defended pass, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. He nearly tacked on a touchdown, too, but his fumble return against the Jets was called back after it was determined he had been contacted while on the ground.

And for all of that, Parsons has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month.

It’s his first time winning this particular award; Parsons won NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after his Week 2 performance in the team’s 30-10 win over the Jets. He was also the NFC’s Defensive Rookie of the Month twice in 2021.

“Rightfully deserved,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said of this latest accolade for the two-time All-Pro. “I think he was definitely Defensive Player of the Year of training camp, too. So he’s really stepped it up. I’m very very pleased with the way Micah has attacked the season so far.”

Cornerback Trevon Diggs won the NFC Defensive Player of the Month award in September 2021, while defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence earned the nod in September 2017. Linebacker Sean Lee won it twice- once in September 2011 and again in October 2013.

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Parsons has recorded 30.5 sacks through 36 games played in his pro career. Franchise leader DeMarcus Ware needed 46 outings to reach the 30-sack milestone.

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Cowboys’ Micah Parsons named NFC Defensive Player of the Week

From @ToddBrock24f7: This is the 3rd time Parsons has won the award, just 35 games into his NFL career. He’s one away from a tie for the most in Cowboys history.

Micah Parsons was a force of nature in last Sunday’s 30-10 throttling of the Jets, so it’s only fitting that the accolades continue to rain down on him.

Parsons was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week thanks to a stat line that almost defies belief: nine QB pressures, seven QB hits, four tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, a pass breakup, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

He even got up and returned the fumble recovery to the end zone for an apparent touchdown, but it was ruled that a Jets defender had grazed Parsons while he was still on the ground.

All in all, though, a thoroughly impressive performance that will get the talk started once again of Parsons for Defensive Player of the Year or even league MVP.

This is the third time Parsons has won the weekly award in 35 regular-season games played.

He won his first as a rookie in the Cowboys’ 20-16 Halloween win over Minnesota, a night when Parsons recorded 11 tackles and four TFLs.

The second came last season in a Week 5 win over the Rams. That day, Parsons notched five tackles, a tackle for loss, two sacks, and a strip of L.A. quarterback Matthew Stafford in a 22-10 win.

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Parsons is now tied with linebacker Sean Lee for the second-most NFC Defensive Player of the Week awards in team history. With his next, he’ll tie DeMarcus Ware atop the list.

And as if anyone needed further proof that Parsons is playing about as well as a defensive player can in this league, his Madden rating was bumped up Wednesday to a 98.

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