Cowboys defense ‘not good enough,’ despite stellar day from Micah Parsons

Led by oustanding rookie Micah Parsons, the Cowboys defense played very well for 44 minutes. But they accept blame for the first 16. | From @ToddBrock24f7

“If you would have told us that our defense would hold them to 19 points, we would have felt pretty damn good about that.”

That was Cowboys right guard Zack Martin after Sunday’s game versus Kansas City. As is often the case for the Notre Dame grad with a degree in management entrepreneurship, he was right. Keeping quarterback Patrick Mahomes under 300 passing yards and without a touchdown is typically more than half the battle in beating the Chiefs.

But the other half of the battle is making sure the league’s top-ranked offense does their job. And the Cowboys didn’t do that in Week 11. The 19-9 loss will be talked about at great length for the veritable no-show from coordinator Kellen Moore’s unit. Too bad, as that uncharacteristic effort overshadowed an overall strong performance from the Dallas defense that should get more attention.

“I thought we played great defense. That team can give you 45, 50 any given day. To hold their explosive offense to under 20 points, I think we definitely did the job,” linebacker Micah Parsons commented after the game. “It’s good, but it’s not good enough.”

But the stars of Dallas’s defense refused to place blame for the loss on their offensive teammates.

“If we don’t give up 19 points, we win. It’s just that simple,” said safety Jayron Kearse, who recorded five tackles and an interception. “Simple as that. We give up eight points, we win the game. It’s not on anybody. We gave up 19, they beat us 19-9. The game is scoring more points and keeping them from scoring. They scored more points than us, and we gave up more than we scored. It’s on everybody.”

Despite keeping Kansas City out of the end zone for the final 44 minutes, it was the damage done early that proved to be enough. The Cowboys defense allowed the Chiefs to take their opening possession 81 yards on a nine-play drive that ended with a Travis Kelce touchdown run.

By the time seven minutes had ticked off the game clock, Kansas City was up 9-0. On their next series, Mahomes drove the Chiefs offense 75 yards in eight plays for another touchdown.

Sixteen minutes of game play. Sixteen points allowed by the Dallas defense.

“We’ve got to come out and we’ve got to play a complementary football game on both sides of the ball,” explained defensive end Tarell Basham. “Regardless if they come out, they get a quick score on the defense and then we start slowing them down. Regardless of what the case may be, we’ve got to be complementary, and we’ve got to play off each other.”

“Only thing I can say is just start fast,” defensive end Dorance Armstong added. “That’s something we didn’t do as a whole.”

But the unit found their footing, allowing just 211 yards and three points from that point forward.

“I liked the way the defense played. I thought we started slow as a team. I think it just took us a while to settle in. They were playing faster than we were at the beginning of the game,” head coach Mike McCarthy said in his postgame press conference. “I thought they did a lot of good things.”

No one did more good things defensively than Parsons. He totaled four tackles (two for a loss), three quarterback hits, and a pair of sacks, one of which included a forced fumble.

“I thought he was all over the field,” McCarthy said. “I thought he had an excellent night.”

With DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory both out, the rookie moved up from his usual linebacker spot and played most of the game as an edge rusher.

“The moment that you second-guess on which way he’s going,” Basham offered, “he’s going to beat you, and he shows it consistently. I love playing with him. He makes everybody’s job easy.”

“He’s a special player,” Mahomes raved, per the Chiefs website. “I mean, to be that good of a linebacker and then be able to play defensive end, there’s not a lot of guys like that in this league. He has a high motor; he chased me down on that sack- the strip sack- and the whole game, he was in there the whole time battling and battling.”

The respect was mutual, as the rookie led the defense in working to keep Mahomes contained and limit the big-play opportunities to his offensive superstars.

“No one’s blind; they’ve got Kelce, Tyreek [Hill], some of the most explosive weapons in the league,” Parsons shared. “We had to make sure we didn’t get beat by one play. If they were going to score, they had to earn it. Every point they did have today, they earned. Kudos to them. They’re a really good team.”

And Parsons is shaping up to be a really good defensive player. Among the best in the NFL this year. And maybe eventually among the best in Cowboys history.

His name is already up there alongside some of them. With his two sacks on the day, he moved into a tie with DeMarcus Ware for most- eight- by a Cowboys rookie since it became an official stat. And he’s done it in six fewer games.

“That means I just got to keep being who I am and keep working,” Parsons said. “Those are all milestones and great milestones to reach, but there’s so much more out there that I got to reach. I’m hungry and get more and more hungry every week.”

If he feels like his effort on Sunday wasn’t good enough to earn the Cowboys a win, the Raiders offense could be in for a long Thanksgiving Day.

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