Brett's Cowboys Corner

On Sunday Night Football we will see Micah Parsons play his first game inside AT&T Stadium this season. A few months ago it would be no surprise to anyone that Parsons would be playing at AT&T this year…but who would have thought he’d be wearing green.

When the trade was announced, everyone quickly looked ahead to this week 4 matchup where the Packers return to AT&T Stadium. The last time they were here the 7-seed Green Bay Packers would embarrass the 2-seed Dallas Cowboys in the wildcard round.

As the Packers held a 27-7 lead at halftime, Jordan Love torched the Dallas secondary as the pass rush led by Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence, were “too burnt out” to be able to create pressure, as told by Lawrence.

The truth is, this game was circled by Dallas the day the schedule came out. To erase that embarrassing memory. But since the trade of Parsons to Green Bay…the stories write themselves.

Now you will see a Cowboy defense that has allowed more passing yards than any other team. A defensive line that hasn’t been able to generate pressure since losing their all-pro.

And for Micah, the ultimate revenge game. There is no better way to showcase to the Joneses what they lost than shredding through the offensive line and sacking the quarterback.

Since entering the NFL in 2021, no player has recorded more pressures than Parsons (354), and his 181 quick pressures (under 2.5 seconds) are the 2nd-most behind only Myles Garrett (193). Parsons has spent 319 seconds (5 minutes, 19 seconds) creating pressure on passers over that span, the longest in the league, Per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Micah is currently second in the NFL in pressures with 19.

Where Will We See Micah?

Everywhere. Left side, right side, down the middle and probably in your nightmares the night before.

Micah Parsons has split snaps almost equally at left edge (57, 49.1%) and right edge (50, 43.1%) this season. This means he will be lining up against both offensive tackles, Tyler Guyton and Terence Steele…hopefully that isn’t a problem?

Guyton (13) and Steele (14) have combined to allow 27 pressures so far this season, tied for the 4th-most by any teams left tackle – right tackle duo. Oh…

The Cowboys will also be without rookie Tyler Booker, the starting right guard. So that means they will have a backup at center and right guard this week. Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass.

Will Dallas Hold Up?

Damn, I hope so…

And that is not too far off what Coach Schottenheimer had to say on the return of Parsons, “Micah’s gonna make plays. … Will he get a sack? Shit, I hope not.”

“We’re gonna hit him. We’re gonna put multiple people on him, but it’s gonna be a long day for us trying to block him.”

There will be a focus on Micah…but that can leave the other edge rusher Rashan Gary to have some success, he leads the Packers in sacks with 4.5 going into this game.

Back in early September, Jerry Jones said the way to beat the Packers was going to be- get a lead and run the ball. Playing at the poor run defense that Parsons has historically had.

Even though Dallas has had a strong rushing attack in the first three weeks…do they have the defense to hold onto a lead?