Micah Parsons is a Problem

Micah Parsons was an absolute game-wrecker against the Jets in Week 2. He finished with 2 sacks, a forced fumble and recovery, a pressure that led to an interception, and he was the source of multiple other pressures that helped derail the Jets offense.

Parsons’ transition to pure pass rusher in Dan Quinn’s defense seems complete at this point. According to PFF data, Parsons has rushed the quarterback on every single pass play for which he’s been on the field this season. Quinn isn’t messing around and wasting his talent in coverage.

That doesn’t mean he’s just leaving him alone to rush the passer off the edge and hoping for the best (although that does happen plenty). Quinn likes to mix in some well-designed stunts and blitzes that target the inside with Parsons.

We saw it on the Jets’ first 3rd down of the game on Sunday.

First, notice the Cowboys’ alignment. They loaded the front with three of their D-linemen (including Parsons) to the left of the center. Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch also aligned in the A-gap to the right:

This got the offense to use a 4-man slide to its left to account for those 3 D-linemen and Vander Esch:

At the snap, however, Vander Esch dropped out. So right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker went looking for work. There didn’t appear to be any immediate threats to his left, where those 3 pass rushers seemed to be getting upfield initially. So he went to help out on Demarcus Lawrence to his right: