The Green Bay Packers shook the NFL world by acquiring Micah Parsons in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys two weeks ago. Ever since the All-Pro pass rusher set foot in Wisconsin, Parsons has had a gravitational effect, giving a team without a defensive superstar a massive lift.
It began on his first snap as a Packer, blowing past Detroit Lions All-Pro guard Penei Sewell and causing a pressure on Jared Goff. The carnage didn’t end until the final whistle, helping Green Bay earn a 27-13 victory in Week 1.
For an encore, Parsons continued the dominance he showed in his first game with Green Bay and it’s making every penny of the four-year, $186 million contract extension he received after the trade worth it.
Micah Parsons Has Transformed the Packers Into an Elite Defensive Team
The Packers may have wanted Parsons when his relationship with the Cowboys started to fall through last month. But the argument could have been made that they didn’t need him.
Jeff Hafley’s defense was a strong unit last season, ranking sixth in points against and tied for the fifth-lowest yards per play (5.2). But while they also posted a respectable 45 sacks, they lacked consistency, generating a 22.1% pressure rate according to Pro Football Reference.
Parsons was set to make an impact in both areas based on his time with the Cowboys. Since stats became an official statistic in 1982 only Reggie White (52.0), Derrick Thomas (43.5) and Aldon Smith (42.0) had more than the 42.0 sacks Parsons collected in the first three seasons of his career. Parsons was also a linchpin of the Dallas defense, which ranked fourth in points allowed in 2022 and first in 2023 before falling to 21st last season.
It should be noted that Parsons suffered a high ankle sprain that limited him to 13 games last season, which tells you just how important the 26-year-old was to the Dallas defense.
What Jerry Jones considered to be expendable has had an immediate impact on the Packers. Parsons’s debut included two pressures and a sack on 23 pass-rushing snaps according to Pro Football Focus. But he picked up where he left off in the first half against the Washington Commanders on Thursday night.
Parsons abused Commanders left tackle Laremy Tunsil, a five-time Pro Bowler who at one point had a false start penalty after just lining up from across from Parsons per Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press Gazette. Wood also noted that the Commanders resorted to triple-teaming Parsons at one point but it didn’t matter as Parsons racked up eight pressures and a sack on 41 pass-rushing snaps.
With Parsons' workload increasing as he works through a back injury, the rest of the Packers defense got involved, not allowing the Commanders to break 100 yards of offense until midway through the third quarter. That makes Parsons well worth the price of admission and gives the Packers a Super Bowl-caliber defense.