Micah Parsons: Cowboys Record’s 'OK’ - What’s Needed During Bye

The Dallas Cowboys feel they are in a good position going into the bye week.

The Dallas Cowboys head into their bye looking every bit a legitimate contender, especially in the NFC. But that doesn’t mean Micah Parsons is satisfied.

“6-2 is OK. You know, I prefer 8-0,” the touchdown-scoring linebacker said, referring to Dallas’ record following Sunday’s 49-29 blowout over the Chicago Bears. “That’s just me. I don’t know who else agrees with that. It’s cool, but like we just have to keep going.

“There’s so much football left. We’ve got to take this bye, but we’ve got to take care it seriously, we’ve got to take care of our bodies, take care, get rest so that that way. … We’ve got a tough NFC stretch coming in here, so we’ve got to be prepared for that. We’ve got to make sure we continue winning in that stretch.”

The Cowboys moved into third in the NFC behind the East-leading Philadelphia Eagles (7-0) and North-leading Minnesota Vikings (6-1). Dallas currently holds a tiebreaker over New York Giants (6-2) based on its win earlier in the season.

Yes, the Cowboys have designs on moving up in the standings. A trip to Minnesota is the second game after the bye following a visit to the sinking Green Bay Packers.

The Eagles and Giants still have to come to AT&T Stadium in late November and late December, respectively.

“You know September football is what it is, teams are just trying to get going,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “October football is when teams start to separate a little bit, and what you do well and what you don’t do so well is fairly evident to everybody.

“So that’s really where my mind’s at. That’s where we will be at as a staff in the first part of the week. Just to make sure we have a good healthy self-scout.”

The coaching staff will break down the opposite units. For example, the Dallas offensive coaches will evaluate how best to attack the Dallas defense.

“It’s just like anything, you got to know who you are,” McCarthy added. “You got to know who you are and know how they are going to come at you. I think we’ve done an excellent job of that because it gives us a chance to grow as we go into the third quarter of the season.”

That’s when the Cowboys will figure how legit they really are. Getting to 6-2 is a good start.

“Honestly, we’re taking steps forward,” said Tony Pollard, who ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns with Ezekiel Elliott sidelined. “We’re almost right where we want to be.”


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Art Garcia
ART GARCIA

Art Garcia has watched, wondered and written about those fortunate few to play games for the last 30 years. Award-winning stops at NBA.com, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and San Antonio Express-News dot a career that includes extensive writing for such outlets as ESPN.com, FOXSports.com, CBSSports.com, The Sporting News and more. He is a former professor of sports reporting at UT Arlington and continues to work in the communications field. Garcia began covering the Dallas Mavericks right around Mark Cuban purchasing the club in 2000. The Texas A&M grad has also covered the Cowboys, Rangers, TCU, Big 12, Final Fours, countless bowl games, including the National Championship, and just about everything involving a ball in DFW since 1999.