FRISCO, Texas -- Facing the Baltimore Ravens and their star-studded offensive backfield of two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry would cause any defense to worry.
Dallas Cowboys three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons even called Jackson "probably the best dual-threat quarterback in the league and in history, today" on Tuesday at Raising Cane's. Dating to 2023, the second of Jackson's two NFL MVP seasons, he has passed for 26 touchdowns and only eight interceptions, which is tied for the fourth-best touchdown to interception ratio in the NFL in that time. He has also racked up at least 750 rushing yards in each of his first five NFL seasons from 2019-2023, the most such seasons by an NFL quarterback in NFL history.
However, Parsons once again focused on the Cowboys, going off on his defense teammates at his regular media availability after practice on Wednesday to light a fire under them regarding their effort and technique. They were shredded by five-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara for 115 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, an average of 5.8 yards per carry in New Orleans' 44-19 Week 2 win at the Cowboys on Sunday. Kamara totaled 180 yards from scrimmage to go along with four touchdowns.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys' top four defensive tackles -- Osa Odighizuwa (45.6 PFF defensive grade, 91st out 115 NFL DTs), Mazi Smith (28.9 PFF defensive grade, 114th out 115 NFL DTs), Linval Joseph (31.7 PFF defensive grade, 111th out of 115 NFL DTs) and Jordan Phillips (29.6 PFF defensive grade, 113th out of 115 NFL DTs) -- have performed like some of the NFL's worst at their position to begin 2024. Right now, Parsons doesn't believe it's worth thinking about Jackson's unique abilities until Dallas cleans up their own mess.
"I think it was effort and technique. .... At some point, all 11 [on the field] got to have the same mindset, and that's just toughness," Parsons said on Wednesday. "You talk about who you want to be and all this other stuff. but you've got go out there and be it. It can't just be one guy. It can't be two guys. It's all 11 guys. It takes everyone. I affect the linebackers, the linebackers affect the DBs. We aren't all synchronized. One group's getting F'd up, then another group's going to get F'd up. It's a synchronized chain. So at the end of the day, it's all about toughness and having the mentality like I'm going to dominate the man in front of me. Not all 11 had that last week."
He spoke about how Saints quarterback Derek Carr only needed to drop back to pass, in a traditional sense without play-action, a measly five times on Sunday. That was the lowest amount of true dropbacks (no play-action) in a Week 2 game last week by a wide margin as the next quarterback above Carr, Cardinals Pro Bowler Kyler Murray, had 13 in a 41-10 win versus the Los Angeles Rams. That statistic is what Parsons focused on when asked about containing Jackson when he drops back to pass, perhaps as quarterback spy along with second-year linebacker DeMarvion Overshown.
"It's a great chance," Parsons said of he and Overshown spying Jackson to keep him in the pocket. "As long as we stay in our rush lanes, we do what we're supposed to, but importantly is to get him to pass the ball. We didn't do a good enough job of that. So until we show we can earn the right [to pass rush], I mean what, we had three dropbacks last game? That's outrageous. That's not even a football game. It's like we're playing pony football all over again. So until we fix the fundamentals, I'm not even worried about Lamar at this point."
Veteran Cowboys linebacker Eric Kendricks said on Wednesday that the defense as a whole has to "buck up." Parsons agreed.
"Toughness. Step up. Ain't no other choice," Parsons said when asked about defending the combination of Jackson and Henry. "Derrick Henry's going to come downhill, like it or not. So it's not like a matter of are you going to stop it. It's just, are you going to do it or not. I know I'm ready for the matchup."
Micah's movement
One of new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer's primary goals this season was to create more one-on-one matchups for Parsons, the 2023 NFL quarterback pressures (103) and quarterback pressure rate (21.8%) leader, and move him away double teams and other methods offenses use to try and take him out of the game. Parsons was double-teamed on 35% of his pass rush plays in 2023, the most in the league among edge players, per the NFL's Next Gen Stats.
In 2024, Parsons is off to another great start with 14 quarterback pressures, the third-most in the NFL and only three behind league leader Aidan Hutchinson (17). The problem is only three of those pressures came against the Saints on Sunday, with much of that to do with New Orleans controlling the game on the ground. When they did throw the football, Parsons felt they used "a maze" involving chipping and max protections to keep him off balance. That's not what Zimmer was hoping for.
"Maybe I tried to use him a little bit more in a lot of different things," Zimmer said on Monday. "Hindsight is 20-20. .... It may have affected some of the other players and asked them to do too many things this week. That's why I say I need to do a better job with that. When he played the run, he played very good. He played a six technique, he played a four technique, he played a nine technique. Obviously, there are a couple of plays he would like to have back, but I thought he played very well. Probably played as good as anybody."
Micah Parsons' career defensive snap alignment
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Defensive Line | 41.3% | 81.1% | 87.2% | 93.4% |
Linebacker | 55.2% | 18.1% | 12.7% | 6.6% |
Defensive Back | 3.5% | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0% |
*Data according to Pro Football Focus
Despite predominantly lining up along the defensive line, Parsons' alignment along the defensive front has varied, per PFF.
Micah Parsons Defensive Line Alignment, 2024 season
Per PFF
- 3 snaps at left defensive end (LDE, defender lined up on or shading the right tackle in a three-point stance)
- 14 snaps at outside left defensive end (LEO, defender lined up completely outside of the right tackle and in a three-point stance)
- 37 snaps at left outside linebacker (LOLB, defender lined up 1.5 yards or less from the line of scrimmage, lined up on the inside shade of the right tackle or wider and in a two-point stance)
- 1 snap at right defensive end (RDE, defender lined up on or shading the left tackle in a three-point stance)
- 27 snaps at outside right defensive end (REO, defender lined up completely outside of the left tackle and in a three-point stance)
- 17 snaps at right outside linebacker (ROLB, defender lined up 1.5 yards or less from the line of scrimmage, lined up on the inside shade of the left tackle or wider and in a two-point stance)
* 57 of 63 defensive snaps along defensive line in Week 1
** 42 of 43 defensive snaps along defensive line in Week 2
The three-time All-Pro said it's on his teammates to execute their responsibilities when he moves around because his movement isn't him free-lancing. Everyone on the Dallas defense knows what's coming.
"At the end of the day, I feel like it should boost people, right? The expectations is like I'm the person that's gonna get the slide, I'm the person that's going to get majority of the chips and the double teams. You know, the harassment. We kind of expect people to win. Like I don't really think moving around is like that difficult for people you know? Because it's not something we're not practicing or we're not doing. This is all practice behavior. So it would be shocking to me if you were to limit me because I would think [it] would be the worst thing."
The worst thing for the Cowboys would be for their defense to be run over two weeks in a row in loss against the Ravens. Sunday will reveal if they can jolt their run defense back to life.