Parsons-powered defense came to play
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Micah Parsons preserved the surprise.
About 45 minutes before kickoff Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys’ first-round draft pick warmed up with the team’s linebackers, not the defensive linemen. He played linebacker during a few 7-on-7 snaps. He remained at linebacker during the 11-on-11 period. Nothing to see here. To onlookers at Arrowhead Stadium, including any curious Kansas City Chiefs coaches and scouts, this would be another game in which the versatile Parsons primarily played linebacker, just like the six before it.
“I’ve got to keep teams on their toes at all times and just do what I’m told,” Parsons said. Surprise.
For the first time since Week 3, Parsons was dispatched to full-time duty at defensive end. His edge pursuits and relentless rushes, which amounted to two sacks and two tackles for loss, keyed a Dallas defense that kept a scuffling, short-handed offense within striking range in a 19-9 defeat.
One loss does not undo a season’s promise. To the contrary.
On Sunday, the Parsons-led defense provided long-term hope.
The Cowboys began the weekend as the NFL’S highest-scoring team. In time, wide receiver Amari Cooper will recover from COVID-19. Wide receiver Ceedee Lamb will recover from his second-quarter concussion. Left tackle Tyron Smith (ankle) will return. The protection should improve. The drops should dip.
Perennial concern about Smith’s health aside, these are all givens.
But the defense went toe-totoe
with former league MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and more than held its own. After the Chiefs’ opening script was effective, contributing to 16 points on the first three possessions, Dallas stuck to and executed its two-high safety defense.
The secondary largely kept the action in front of it. Big plays were limited. Across the final three quarters, Mahomes was limited to 15-of-25 passing for 171 yards and one interception. He was sacked three times, not accounting for a touchdown in a game he started for just the third time of his career. Parsons was after him. Phew, was he after him.
Late in the second quarter, Parsons executed an explosive inside rush that drew a holding call from right guard Trey Smith, who proceeded to be flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. That sequence forced Kansas City into second-and-29 and an eventual punt.
The Cowboys’ offense followed with a three-and-out.
Out came the Dallas defense again, this time with less than two minutes remaining. On the second play, Parsons grabbed and pulled down the outside wrist of right tackle Andrew Wylie to strip-sack a fleeing Mahomes from behind. The Cowboys took possession only to squander the short-field chance
with a Dak Prescott interception.
In the third quarter, Parsons bent the edge to beat Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown for his second sack.
That was for the record book. Parsons has eight sacks through 10 games, tying him with Cowboys great Demarcus Ware for the most by a Dallas rookie since the sack became an official league statistic in 1982. Of those sacks for Parsons, 5½ have come in three November games.
Parsons opted out of his junior season at Penn State last year.
Last November, he was in Los Angeles, playing Xbox and training, he said.
“I’ve just got to keep being who I am and keep working,”
Parsons said Sunday. “I mean, those milestones are good milestones to reach, but there’s so much more out there that I’ve got to reach. I’m just hungry and getting more and more hungry every time, every week. I think right now, it’s just glimpses. I still ain’t really found my true self yet.”
Parsons already earned teammates’ respect before the season. They knew what the team had in him.
The rest of the league, including Mahomes, is catching on.
“Yeah, he’s a special player,” Mahomes said. “I mean, to be that good of a linebacker and 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 Cowboys weren’t just being deceitful in their pregame warmup.
They previewed what is ahead.
Defensive end Demarcus Lawrence (foot), defensive tackle Neville Gallimore (elbow) and defensive lineman Brent Urban (triceps) all traveled to Kansas City while on injured reserve. Dallas defensive line coach Aden Durde guided them through a workout inside the south end zone.
Also on IR, defensive end Randy Gregory stayed home, still only 10 days removed from his calf strain. All four players should rejoin the team sometime in December.
Better days aren’t just ahead for the Cowboys’ offense. They are, too, for the defense.
In large part because of Parsons, the present isn’t so bad now.