Dallas Cowboys' Micah Parsons' Final Play: Inside Seahawks Incredible Decision to Not Block The 'Lion-Backer'
ARLINGTON - In my 40 years of covering the NFL, one of the smartest things I've ever done is be transparent in regard to how dumb I am.
"Dumb,'' that is, in the sense that I'm not an owner, GM, coach, scout or player. I therefore respect the people "in the arena,'' even to the point of being deferential.
But even a layman has the right to wonder: In the closing moments of what would be the Dallas Cowboys' 41-35 "Thursday Night Football'' win over Seattle here at AT&T Stadium, did the Seahawks really purposely draw up the ill-fated final offensive play in a way that would leave Micah Parsons unblocked?
For real?
“It is the design,” said Seattle QB Geno Smith of the play that resulted in Parsons sprinting unencumbered at the quarterback, knocking Smith violently backward as his toss fluttered innocuously to nowhere. "The right tackle (Abe Lucas) had the squeeze ... right there versus zero.''
Added Lucas: “That very last play on offense, it was a zero pressure, so I have to do what is called a sift. So I have to come down so as not to leave the middle free. A lot of people don’t really know that. So it looks like we just let him run off the edge. No, that is the rule of protection.
"There was a method to the madness, so to speak.”
"Madness,'' indeed, for as we really do understand the concept - Seahawks running back DeeJay Dallas was supposed to zip past Parsons in the backfield and into the right flat, where a quick swing pass would pick up the needed four yards and a first down - it's also very clear that the Seattle coaching staff underrated the velocity that Parsons would bring in what essentially became a race ...
"Parsons to Geno'' vs. "DeeJay to the flat.''
And the Seattle coaching staff, led by head coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, made a very, very bad bet.
Said Micah, simply: "That's not a good strategy.''
The speed of the All-Pro pass-rusher Parsons - arguably the NFL's most game-wrecking defender - is already after three seasons the stuff of legend. You can explain to me the "squeeze'' and the "sift'' (the tackle sliding inside) and the "zero'' (which means Dallas is blitzing) and you'll still leave me asking ...
But why didn't you block Micah Parsons?
“I thought Shane called a great game, an amazing game,'' Geno said. The receivers ran great routes. The protection was awesome …The whole o-line played phenomenally. “They gave us a good chance to make plays and guys made good plays.”
All true. Until - "madness!''' - nobody was assigned to make a good play, or any play at all, against Micah Parsons.
