Cowboys: Micah Parsons might've saved Dan Quinn from costly mistake in Week 13
Although there isn't a position in football like the closer in baseball, Dallas Cowboys Micah Parsons stepped up like the legendary Mariano Rivera in Week 13. When the Cowboys needed a pressure to put an end to the game against the Seattle Seahawks following some questionable game-management decisions from head coach Mike McCarthy, Parsons turned […]
Although there isn't a position in football like the closer in baseball, Dallas Cowboys Micah Parsons stepped up like the legendary Mariano Rivera in Week 13.
When the Cowboys needed a pressure to put an end to the game against the Seattle Seahawks following some questionable game-management decisions from head coach Mike McCarthy, Parsons turned off all the lights on fourth down by teleporting to the offensive backfield to break up the play.
While the play won't show up on the stat sheet as a sack, it was his most important pressure of the night. It certainly helped that Parsons was shockingly left unblocked on the most important play of the night but Micah's speed is what allowed him to give Geno Smith no chance at making a play.
"The mindset is to get the quarterback anytime," Parsons told reporters postgame. "Any time I know it's a true pass situation, I mean, I practice in these situations so much that I really live for those types of moments, those types of end-of-the-game series."
The Defensive Player of the Year is so comfortable in such scenarios that he hinted at saying no to Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn when the coach wanted to call a specific play (likely pressure wise but we can't know for sure). Instead, Parsons suggested they kept it simple instead.
"Coach wanted to get into some things, but I was like, 'No, man, we could get the best of these guys just doing basic stuff,'" Parsons added. "'Let's just be us, let's just be great.' That's always been the mindset. Like, we ain't gonna beat ourselves. We got a chance if the offense gives us a chance."
Although Parsons didn't reveal more details about what appeared to be an important interaction, it's noteworthy to hear the Cowboys' coaching staff listens closely to their best defender. It's not anything new that coaches will trust their best players when they chime in with a stronger feel of the game.
By the looks of it, it seems like Quinn did as Parsons suggested: The defense seemed to play man coverage in a Cover 1 look with a blitzer (LB Markquese Bell) in the final play of the game, which wasn't anything different to what we've seen from the Cowboys defense all year long.
Perhaps dialing up a play that was not "us," as Micah suggested, the Cowboys would've paid the price at the end of the game inn heartbreaking fashion. It paid off: Parsons showed off his speed and was in Geno's face before he could find an open man.
A long day for the defense but an all-too familiar timely rush from Micah Parsons.
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