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Cincinnati Bengals Film Breakdown: Dallas Cowboys Star Micah Parsons Is A Nightmare

Cincinnati hopes to contain the star edge rusher on Sunday in Dallas.

Mike Santagata

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The Bengals will need to account for a few star players on the Cowboys' defense this Sunday. 

The offense should know where Trevon Diggs is at all times because of his ability to make plays on the ball. The Bengals need to know where Demarcus Lawrence is lined up or his ability to destroy the opposing run game may bite them. Finally, the Bengals need to devote the most attention to Micah Parsons and his ability to take over the game as a pass rusher. Parsons is the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year and kept up his spectacular pace in Week 1 against Tampa Bay. He leads all players in pass rush win rate and did so in a variety of ways. 

Let’s get into Parsons as a player and how the Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn gets the most out of him.

Parsons Pass Rush

The most talented ability that Parsons has is his ability to rush the passer.

The most important ability that a pass rusher can have is the ability to fire off of the ball. Parsons’ get off is one of the best in the NFL. He’s a tremendously explosive athlete and can win the corner just from firing off of the ball. 

Whoever is lined up against Parsons on the edge needs to match this and fire out of their stance or the Bengals need to have a plan for him with chip blocks and ways to slow him down. To go with that explosion, Parsons has very good bend. 

In this clip, you can see that once he wins the corner against Donovan Smith, he rips and bends to not get pushed around the pocket. This wins him a pressure and if Tom Brady drops back another yard and holds onto the ball for another millisecond, then he may have come away with a sack.

To be a great pass rusher though, the player needs to be able to counter when the offensive lineman sells out to stop their primary move. Parsons has no issue doing just that.

Parsons carries a devastating spin move to throw back to the inside when the offensive tackle oversets to match his speed. A quick and powerful spin move is one of the most difficult moves to block in the NFL and we saw multiple Bengals struggle with it against Alex Highsmith last week. The ability to win inside and outside is what makes Parsons a great pass rusher, but that's not the only thing that makes him an elite pass rusher.

Parsons can effectively attack with power as well. This is the physical ability that takes him from just a great pass rusher into an elite one. It’s not utilized too often, but if he can recognize the lineman across from him preparing too much for his speed or counter inside, then he can run right through them. Because of this, the lineman facing him must be balanced with a wide base whenever they block him. If they narrow their base or get on their heels too much then he will run through them. That clip above is against Tristan Wirfs, who was named a first-team All-Pro at right tackle last season.

This is the final attack that Parsons has in his arsenal. He tries to manipulate the offensive lineman into changing their set and throwing their hands. On this play, Smith ends up opening up and throwing his punch instead of staying square. He does that because of the jab inside that Parsons gives him. when Parsons does win, his bend shows up again. He wins the outside and then is able to turn that into a sack because he can bend with the best of them.

Parsons The Linebacker

What makes Parsons even more of an annoyance to face is that he is a good linebacker all around. He’s best as a pass rusher, but when it comes to being a linebacker he does a great job.

In coverage, Parsons allowed 160 yards last season according to Pro Football Reference. He gave up about 4.4 yards per target and a 71.5 passer rating. Essentially, he was not thrown at all that often and when he was, he was able to limit those throws to small gains.

To put that into perspective, Logan Wilson gave up 8.5 yards per target and 465 yards last season while Germaine Pratt gave up 7.2 yards per target and 344 yards. Despite the scheme, you could easily argue that Parsons is as good or better than the Bengals linebacker duo in coverage. Pro Football Focus also gave him a coverage grade of 70, which places him at 12th among linebackers.

His ability to drop into coverage is matched by his ability to defend the run. Whether that’s from a stack backer position or that’s from the line.

He can quickly defeat the block against him to make run stops like this play. Here he beats the tight end to the inside when the blocking scheme is meant to displace him to the outside. This ruins the entire run play for the Buccaneers and he comes away with a clean run stop.

It’s hard to remember, but Parsons was a true stack linebacker at Penn State. When he was coming out, both Lance Zierlein and The Draft Network compared him to Myles Jack. On draft night, the pick was met with a lukewarm response because many believed the Cowboys took a linebacker too high in the draft. Now, he’s seen as one of the best picks in 2021 class because of his ability as a pass rusher. It’s the pass rushing that has become new for him rather than the ability to play as a linebacker.

Dan Quinn’s Usage

Parsons' usage has been one of Quinn's strokes of genius. Not only because they got the most out of him when he was seen as just a true stack backer coming out of college, but because he is utilized as a moving chess piece on the Cowboys' defense. They can hunt for mismatches with Parsons due to his versatility. He can play from a stack, on the edge at a 7-technique, a 9-technique or even on the inside on some passing downs as a 3-technique.

The left guard does a great job of driving Parsons out of the play on the swim move here, but this is an example of how the Cowboys will utilize Parsons as a roving mismatch. If they believe that one of the guards or the center is the weak point of the offensive line, then they won’t just waste Parsons against the better pass protectors. They will throw him inside and let him go to work on the weaker players. The Bengals need to be ready for this as well. They have to account for Parsons as a pass rusher on every down and give help when it’s needed.

Here the Cowboys try to get Parsons one-on-one against the Buccaneers center with an off ball blitz. His combination of explosion, bend, and speed creates an excellent blitzing linebacker. Just like the last rep, he did not win on this one, but it shows that Quinn is going to do more than just have him rush from the outside.

There's a lot of talk about just letting Parsons play on the line to maximize his value and while he would be very good there full time, the reason he plays as a stack backer and in coverage is not just because he's good at it. They drop him into coverage as a stack backer so that they can get him matched up against running backs or even get him a free rush or two. 

Due to Parsons’s ability as a true stack linebacker, the offensive line does not always account for him as one of the pass rushers. Traditionally against 5-man fronts, the offensive line will account for the men on the line of scrimmage while the back will account for the second level rushers. This is so that the big guys are blocking the big guys and the pass protection scheme doesn't end with a running back trying to block a defensive end or tackle. While that makes sense, Quinn has done a spectacular job of exploiting those rules.

At least once every game Parsons will end up blocked by a running back in pass protection. The Cowboys will get into an overload front like this or they will get into a bear front where all of the interior offensive linemen are covered up. The line will then block the defensive line which leaves Parsons as the back’s responsibility.

While this play does not end with devastating results, this is a gigantic mismatch for the offense. Parsons can routinely beat offensive linemen as the Cowboys' best pass rusher. No running back in the league has a realistic chance of slowing him down.

Parsons is an elite pass rusher that also provides high level linebacker play. When you combine that with Quinn’s fantastic usage of him to exploit mismatches and the opposing blocking scheme, you get one of the worst nightmares you can face as an offense. The Bengals will need to be prepared for Parsons in this game because otherwise, it could be a long day for Joe Burrow and the rest of their offense.

For more on Sunday's game, watch our exclusive interview with La'el Collins below and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

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Mike Santagata
MIKE SANTAGATA

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