Cowboys vs Browns: Micah Parsons wrecks Cleveland’s offense, earns Week 1 game ball
All things considered, Sunday went about as well as it possibly could have for the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas started the day by locking up star quarterback Dak Prescott to a four-year contract extension. They finished it by dominating the Cleveland Browns, kicking off their 2024 regular season with a 33-17 victory.
Don’t be fooled by the ease of victory, the Browns are a good team. Cleveland’s defense was arguably the best in the league last season and they came into this matchup favored by 2.5 points. This was an extremely impressive win by the Cowboys and will go down as one of their best Week 1 performances in recent memory.
Plenty of players stood out in this game, but only one was worthy of receiving the game ball for Week 1. That guy was All-Pro pass-rusher Micah Parsons.
Parsons started the season about as well as the Cowboys could have hoped for. The 25-year-old was a true game-wrecker and tortured Cleveland’s offense all afternoon. The former first-round pick finished the day with nine total pressures, the most of any player in the league, five QB hits, one sack, and one pass defense. (a tipped ball that led to an Eric Kendricks interception)
No matter what the Browns did, they could not slow Parsons down. He was chasing down Deshuan Watson all game long, and easily could have finished the afternoon with three or four sacks.
Tom Brady breaking down Micah Parsons’ sack: “This guy deals with more double teams than anyone. He’s just too athletic. This is what you deal with when you’re a great rusher … ‘You get two on you, you know what, put two on me, it doesn’t matter.’” pic.twitter.com/hcEsA4vj8g
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 8, 2024
The Cowboys defense pressured Deshaun Watson 25 times, including 6 sacks on 56 dropbacks. Micah Parsons led the group with 9 pressures, followed by Demarcus Lawrence (8), and rookie Marshawn Kneeland (6).
Watson vs. Pressure: 5/17, 22 yards (-8.5% CPOE)
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— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 9, 2024
Shockingly, Micah Parsons has not won a Defensive Player of The Year Award in his three NFL seasons. If he keeps playing the way he did on Sunday against Cleveland, Parsons is going to have some hardware to add to his shelf at season’s end.
2024 Game Ball Tracker
Week One – Micah Parsons