How Micah Parsons and Mike Zimmer Combined to Spoil the Browns' Opener

The Cowboys couldn’t have asked for a better debut from new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Dallas held the Browns to 17 points (which included a garbage-time touchdown), 230 yards, and a staggering 3.3 yards per play. They also added 6 sacks and forced 2 turnovers.

It of course helps to have a player like Micah Parsons, who finished the afternoon with 11 pressures (T-most in Week 1 according to PFF) and a sack. But it wasn’t just Parsons winning 1-on-1’s that fueled the Cowboys’ defensive performance. Zimmer knew that Parsons would garner extra attention from Cleveland’s protection, and he took advantage with the way he attacked.

The first example of this was a 3rd-and-10 on the Browns’ opening drive. The Cowboys would drop two linebackers down into the B-gaps pre-snap, creating a 6-man front:

The Browns would be in a 5-man protection and (unsurprisingly) slide to Micah Parsons’ side: