On Sunday, Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons set a career-high with three sacks in the Packers’ 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Unsurprisingly, that dominant performance has earned attention from the NFL as a whole; on Wednesday, the league announced that Parsons has been named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for week 7.
Parsons officially recorded five total quarterback hits in the game and added another tackle for loss in the run game. He could have had four sacks as well,
if not for being flagged for a hip-drop tackle on Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett on another would-be sack.
The three-sack game gives Parsons 5.5 in total through six games, which puts him well on pace for a fifth-straight season of double-digit sacks. Meanwhile, his teammate Rashan Gary added a sack-fumble on Sunday, giving him 5.5 on the season as well and on pace to blow away his previous career-high of 9.5.
This is Parsons’ fourth career Defensive Player of the Week award since entering the NFL in 2021. He previously won the award for the following games, all as a member of the Dallas Cowboys:
- 2021 Week 8: 10 tackles, 2.5 sacks in 30-16 loss to Denver
- 2022 Week 5: 5 tackles, 2.0 sacks, forced fumble in 22-10 win over Rams
- 2023 Week 2: 4 tackles, 2.0 sacks, forced fumble, fumble recovery, pass breakup in 30-10 win over Jets
This is the Packers’ first player of the week award across any phase of the game for the 2025 season. In 2024, no Packers won on offense or special teams, but there were three Defensive Player of the Week winners: Xavier McKinney earned the award it in week 5 and Edgerrin Cooper landed a pair for his performances in weeks 8 and 15.
