Cowboys: Micah Parsons takes a strong stance in DaRon Bland's D.P.O.Y. debate
The Dallas Cowboys have an internal battle that many weren't expecting: Both Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland are legitimate candidates for Defensive Player of the Year. For Bland, his case was never better as it was following his historic touchdown in Week 12: A 63-yard pick-six separated him from every other player in NFL history […]
The Dallas Cowboys have an internal battle that many weren't expecting: Both Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland are legitimate candidates for Defensive Player of the Year.
For Bland, his case was never better as it was following his historic touchdown in Week 12: A 63-yard pick-six separated him from every other player in NFL history as the only player with five pick-sixes in a single season.
The iconic moment came only four days after he tied the record. And what's even better: The Cowboys have six more regular season games ahead of them. Bland could very well raise the bar in the next two months.
Bland's biggest argument lies in the fact that he's scoring. How many sacks from Micah can equate to Bland's direct 24 points? And that's without even counting the subsequent PATs. Some have tried to quantify the value of a pick-six compared to the value of a sack, with @CowboysStats concluding that a pick-six is numerically worth about five sacks.
Micah Parsons votes for…
The biggest thing working against Bland is the presence of superstar Micah Parsons, who entered the year as the favorite to win it and remains one of the most productive pass rushers of the year.
However, if you ask Micah, his teammate should be the favorite to win the award at this point. Parsons quoted a tweet from rival Eagles CB Darius Slay, who claimed: "It shouldn't even be a debate."
To this, Parsons replied with a simple yet powerful message coming from someone who's also in the running like him: "Facts!!!"
Micah himself worked on his case for the award on Thursday, as he added 1.5 sacks to his curriculum. His total now stands at 11.5, which trails Myles Garrett's league-leading 13.
The only negative that can come from this is the two eating into each other's votes. That being said, the Cowboys likely care very little about it. Instead, they're focused on the fact that having these two playing at this level means wonders for the team's dominant defense.
