FRISCO, Texas — Two-time first-team All-Pro edge of the Dallas Cowboys Micah Parsons doesn’t have much to be jealous of when it comes to life in the NFL.
He co-leads the league with 82 quarterback pressures (along with San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa ) and is first in the NFL in quarterback pressure frequency (20.1%) among those with at least 275 pass rushes in 2023. His efforts lead. the NFL’s top passing team — the Cowboys lead the league with a 46.7% quarterback pressure percentage while allowing 17.9 points per game, the fourth fewest in the league. Those factors led to Parsons being the betting favorite for the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year award (-145 in Caesars Sportsbook). However, when the 10-3 Cowboys hit the road to face the 7-6 Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Parsons will run into a player he’s jealous of: Madden 24 cover boy and Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
“Obviously, Josh, you have to put him in a different space because he was a Madden cover,” Parsons said Thursday. “He’s up there with the greats. So I never told Josh this, but I’m a little jealous because he was on the cover of Madden. I think growing up I think that’s everybody’s dream.”
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Now, it’s a Dallas dream for Parsons to ruin Allen’s day and force him to turn the ball over to clinch a third straight postseason appearance for the first time since their 1990s debut. Super Bowl glory years when they reached the finals six years in a row (1991-1996) and winning three Super Bowls in that span (1992-1993, 1995). That will be easier said than done considering Allen is the only player in NFL history with 25 or more passing touchdowns (25, tied for second most in the NFL behind only Dak Prescott’s 28 in 2023) and 10 or more rushing touchdowns (10, tied for fourth most in the NFL in 2023) through 13 games of a season. His nine games with a pass and a rushing touchdown this season are tied for the most by any player in a season in NFL history, joining Cardinals dual-threat quarterback Kyler Murray (2020) for ninth. Standing at 6-5, 237 pounds, Allen’s build resembles an inside linebacker as much as it does a quarterback.
“Josh is tough, Josh is tough,” Parsons said. “It’s not like we didn’t already know.”
The Cowboys defense is gearing up for Allen to try to run through them like a ram at the end of some of his runs instead of sliding like most NFL quarterbacks. That reckless abandon as a runner in addition to his cannon of an arm led to Parsons making a unique comparison for Allen’s playing style.
“Yeah, Josh just doesn’t really believe in skating,” Parsons said. “You know, Josh reminds me a lot of that crazy guy at the frat. I probably would have hated Josh in college. The one who gets his friends drunk and you’re just like ‘ha, ha, man.’ I’m not going out with this one guy, man.’ He’ll do anything. He’s that wild guy on the field. He wants to dip his shoulder, he’ll talk trash, he’ll get rowdy. You shoot the beer pong, and he’ll ace the cup. I’d love to have a bar and grill with Josh. Just not this weekend.”
For Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, that approach to the quarterback position reminds him of his first starting quarterback as an NFL head coach with the Green Bay Packers: Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre. Favre retired as the NFL leader in every passing metric from touchdowns to completions, attempts, yards and interceptions. He was a real roller coaster of a player, but when he was, he was the only player in league history to win three consecutive NFL MVP awards (1995-1997).
“(Allen is) a dynamic player the way he plays the position, and he reminds me of a young Brett Favre in terms of his temperament and his ability to throw the ball in any quadrant of the field,” McCarthy said Wednesday. He coached Favre for his final two seasons as a Green Bay Packer from 2006-2007. “Very aggressive running of the ball. You’ve got to treat him like a running back when he gets out there because he’s not looking to go down or get out of bounds. A very efficient football player.”
Although one game over .500 is a disappointing record for Buffalo, one of the AFC’s top contenders starting in 2020, the Cowboys know the Bills are never completely out of it with Allen at the offensive controls.
“I think we just have to play our game and stay focused,” McCarthy said. “Every time we line up, we have opportunities to take the ball away. We have to convert. He is a very, very aggressive player. It can definitely be more than 60 minutes of football. They are never out of it when he has the ball in his hands “
The last time these two teams played was a while ago: Thanksgiving 2019. Both starting quarterbacks were the same, but Dallas’ head coach was still Jason Garrett at the time. Given the gap between meetings, the Cowboys are doing what they can to draw trend lines to other, more frequent opponents.
“I would say there are similar styles [to Hurts and Allen],” Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said Monday when asked about Allen’s dual-threat style of play. “These guys who are really tough, strong runners, and I counted Allen and Hurts near the top of that list where not only can they make to miss you , but they can also try to run you over as a running back. So for guys like that, there are quarterback draws and escaping the pocket and designed quarterback runs. Those are the things as we go through the week that we’re going to be more prepared with, but yeah, he’s definitely, from what I’ve seen, some exceptional plays from him on tape much like Hurts has.”
Parsons and the Cowboys defense forced Hurts and his Eagles offense into three lost fumbles in their 33-13 win over Philadelphia in Week 14, something Dallas will look to continue in Week 15. As Quinn became the Cowboys defensive coordinator and Dallas drafted Parsons in the 2021 offseason, the team’s 88 carries since are the most in the league. In the same span, Allen’s 54 turnovers are also the most in the NFL. He co-leads the NFL this season in interceptions (14) and turnovers (17) along with first-time starting quarterback Sam Howell in 2023. However, Parsons is an exception to Allen’s banner performance thanks to the opportunity to play on “America’s Team.”
“I think the awareness is always pretty high,” Parsons said, when they face teams that are known to run the football. “We get the ball video every week that Quinn puts on. Josh is a guy that can go out there and have zero interceptions and four or five touchdowns, and he can have a game where he forces things. He’s just a playmaker. He just is. trying to make plays. I’m not chastising him because I know what it looks like when he makes plays. You look at his tape, it’s all over. You see why he’s a great quarterback. I know we’re the Dallas Cowboys, so I know what type of Josh Allen are we going to get. I don’t think it’s going to be one that makes them expensive decisions. I think it’s going to be one that kind of [try to] beats us pretty bad. I’m excited for the matchup.”
Generating turnovers has nothing to do with luck according to the Cowboys. It’s something they drill over and over and over again.
“Ultimately, the players buy in and practice the technique,” McCarthy said Thursday. “Those kinds of techniques, ball retrieval, it’s a fine motor skill. You can improve fine motor skills. Now we train it and feel like we train it better than anybody. But it’s more about the confidence. I think if you will ever be coached. in defensive room, special teams room, team meeting on Thursday, when we go through the fundamentals of the Cowboys Six, you see the confidence, the expertise and the understanding, and everybody wants to be in that video. [Special teams coordinator] John Fassel makes the video for the Thursday meetings and it is a great reinforcement. Ultimately, it comes down to the players. They kick off on Sunday, they’re aggressive with it. Our kids are advanced in ball skills. That’s by design. You want defensive backs that can catch the ball as good as receivers, and I feel like we have that.”
Second-year cornerback DaRon Bland leads the NFL with eight interceptions and a league single-season record five pick-sixes while 2019 Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Stephon Gilmore lines up on the other side of the formation. Dallas is a perfect 7-0 at home in the domed confines of AT&T Stadium, but they’ll face a rather different condition in Buffalo on Saturday. According to the Weather Channel, it will be in the 40s with a high chance of rain as well as winds between five and 20 miles per hour. For a defense, that’s a win because that side of the ball’s goal is always to muddy things up for the opposing offense. It looks like God will provide the mud on Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, just the way Parsons likes it.
“I like the rain,” Parsons said. “The rain is exciting. It becomes a little more slippery, a little more fun, a little more challenging. The rain should increase the intensity of the game. More time to just after it. [as receivers might slip or go slower through their route progressions]. I think that could play in our favor as well.”
