The blockbuster trade that landed star pass rusher Micah Parsons with the Packers is already paying dividends for the Green Bay Packers. As expected, Parsons is looking like one of the best defensive players in the league, and has completely revived the Packers' pass rush, changing the game every time he takes a snap. He currently ranks as the highest-graded edge defender in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus.
Parsons has been so dominant that the opposing offensive linemen have to resort to drastic measures. This includes blatant holds, jersey grabs, and tackles, which have largely gone uncalled through the first five games of the season. This week, the Packers have had enough, head coach Matt LaFleur revealing that holds on Parsons will be "a conversation [presumably with the referees] pregame," after saying "you send stuff in occasionally," about sending film to the league, per Packers team writer Wes Hodkiewicz.
Egregious No-Calls on Micah Parsons Are Becoming a Problem
This has been a big talking point for LaFleur and the Packers throughout the week. After the Bengals were not called for a single holding penalty in 46 dropbacks, LaFleur took the stage on Monday and expressed his and Parsons' frustration. LaFleur said, "there are some that are egregious and I think those need to be called," per The Athletic's Matt Schneidman.
It is obviously unreasonable to expect referees to call every single holding penalty. There are different levels of egregiousness and all teams benefit from the referees looking past things in certain situations. Especially when dealing with a physically overwhelming game-wrecker like Parsons, referees aren't going to call holding every time there is a brief holding. Dominant, overpowering players are officiated differently and can have a higher standard of penalties for this reason.
At the same time, the blatant miss on the Bengals' final drive where LT Orlando Brown Jr. tackled Parsons to the ground is certainly unacceptable. With how much pressure the Packers' defensive line is generating, getting only five holding penalties called in favor of them is definitely eyebrow-raising.
For Parsons, however, this is nothing new. He has previously expressed frustration with this situation when he was with the Cowboys, resulting in them sending film to the league. Whether this has any impact on officiating is unclear, but it's important for the team to have the back of its star player. No player should be penalized for being more physically dominant than others, and the NFL needs to start calling things more fairly to make sure this is not the case.