Micah Parsons played 29 snaps on defense in his first game action for the Packers in week one and his impact was felt right away from the moment he first took the field on an early third down in the first quarter. He finished the game with 3 pressures per NFL NextGenStats (1 sack, 1 hit, 1 hurry) and made opposing Lions quarterback Jared Goff look uncomfortable on some key downs.
While he didn’t have any stops on run defense, he was solid there too and his contributions helped the Packers cruise to a 27-13
lead, a game that was 27-6 at one point and a bit more lopsided than it officially ended.
Although his sack on Goff didn’t come until the game’s final minutes, it was symbolic of the constant pressure Goff was under all game long against a defense that registered four total sacks, an interception, and NINE tackles for losses.
Right away, his impact was felt on third down when he entered the game for the first time. The defense overloaded the right side of the offensive line with a late walk-up to show a blitz just before the snap. Parsons is aligned on the outside shoulder of Penei Sewell on the offense’s right side.
The late walk-up and simulated pressure generates a 1-on-1 for Parsons against Sewell as the right guard’s attention is on the interior rush to his left as Lukas Van Ness drops into an underneath zone. Parsons beats Sewell with an inside and flushes Goff from the pocket as Goff was going to set up and throw a dig route in behind the intermediate defenders. He ended up escaping and dumping the ball off for an eventual loss.
Later on in the late 2nd quarter, he pressured Goff into a quick, errant throw that was intercepted by Evan Williams and critical to keep the Lions off the scoreboard before the end of the half.
He beat Sewell again to the inside with a nice club and swim move after getting Parsons to commit to the edge with a power step. The step move got Sewell to react and punch forward just as Parson to club him aside to move inside. The move was effective at pressuring Goff in less than 2 seconds.
His sack wasn’t a true pass rush win, but the hustle and motor was incredible to watch.
It’s late in the 4th quarter on a 2nd and 10 in Lions territory with the Lions trying to salvage anything they can at this point. Parsons is on the right edge of the defense and fights and claws his way through the blockers into the back field where he flushes and chases down Goff from behind. The Lambeau crowd and sideline erupted when it happened.
He didn’t play many run defense snaps, only logged seven total, with the seventh being the late fourth quarter sack as Goff was scrambling above. But one of the constant criticisms of Parsons after the trade was that he could not set an edge against the run or tended to disappear when teams ran at him. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Here, on the right edge, he holds pretty well against the initial combo block, getting moved slightly before holding the edge when the tackle disengages.
Here versus Sewell, he holds the edges and eventually redirects the running back path back inside before pancaking Sewell into the turf and nearly getting in on the tackle.
And on this play at the goal line, with the Lions backed up on their 2-yard line, the Lions blockers had a miscommunication thinking they each had to block Parsons. It’s obviously not clear what they’re thinking exactly, but something in the back of their minds had them both thinking they needed to slide to Parsons, leaving Colby Wooden free to run through to the tackle.
While we didn’t see him nearly as much on running downs, there isn’t any cause for alarm with his run defense.
As you can tell from the above cut-up in his time with the Cowboys, he brings versatility as an off-the-ball linebacker who can chase the run down and meet it at the point of attack and also as an edge setter. He doesn’t disappear when run at or shy away from sticking his head into the melee.
Final thoughts
Micah Parsons certainly had an impact in his Packers debut. It goes without saying that each week he should start seeing more and more of a role in the defensive gameplan. His versatility as an off-the-ball linebacker and defensive end should unlock even more of Jeff Hafley’s creativity in the coming weeks.
