Micah Parsons Calls Out 'Selfish' Cowboys; Are Teammates Listening?

Rather than the formidable foes on the road ahead, the Dallas Cowboys' ground defenders will look to control their own fate.

Perhaps as recently as last week, the Dallas Cowboys looked poised to run away with an NFC Wild Card spot. Now, that postseason seed is perhaps in danger of literally running away from them. ... and Micah Parsons is calling out his teammates for a form of "selfishness.''

Are they listening?

The Dallas defense has done plenty to bring them to this point, but its recent efforts to stop attacks on the ground have left much to be desired. Since letting up a measly 38 rushing yards in an October win over the Los Angeles Rams, the Cowboys (6-3) are allowing an average of 175 over their last four games. The bottom has fallen out in their last two contests against NFC North competition: the Cowboys were able to withstand 240 yards from Chicago-based rushers prior to their bye week but 159 more from those of the Green Bay Packers partly doomed them to a 31-28 overtime defeat. 

In that Sunday loss, Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon united for 203 on the ground, a shared effort that ate decent chunks of yardage with each carry, setting up more than manageable third and fourth down opportunities. 

"We've got a lot of great athletes and ballplayers, and everybody is trying to make 'The Play'," defensive tackle Neville Gallimore told the team's official site in the aftermath of the visit to Green Bay. "Games like (Sunday) let you know what you need to work on and where you need to put emphasis but, other than that, I'm confident we still have an opportunity to do what we want to do."

"You have to earn that right to get to third down. You have to do whatever you can to get there. We're back to the drawing board, and we're going to focus on us."

The football gods take no pity on Dallas: the surprising loss to the presumed-dead Packers gives way to the current North conquerers from Minnesota this Sunday (3:25 p.m. CT, CBS). The Vikings (8-1) are currently engaged in a tie with the Philadelphia Eagles for the top seed on the early NFC playoff bracket. 

Minnesota averages a pedestrian 107 rushing yards a game, but Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison have started to find an undeniable rhythm: they've helped average 126 in the latest three legs of a seven-game winning streak. It was Cook's 81-yard dash to glory that helped Minnesota kickstart a famous comeback from 17 down in Buffalo last weekend.

Dallas defends aren't concerning themselves with the scary ground monsters from abroad, however. 

"Everybody just has to do their job," safety Jayron Kearse said. "(We can't) try to do too much, just do your job. If every single individual does their job, we'll take care of the run."

"We've got so many dogs on the team, if everybody just focuses on what they have to do [in individual assignments], we'll be good," Gallimore added. "We'll get there, for sure."

Run defense is certainly a familiar concern to those in Dallas: January's playoff trip was reduced to a Wild Card cameo when the Cowboys allowed San Francisco to rattle off 172 yards in defeat. 

Searching for a culprit, Gallimore is encouraging both himself and his teammates to simply locate the nearest mirror. 

"It just goes back to paying attention to the details," Gallimore said. "[('ve) never been more confident in this group and what we're capable of but, in situations like that, we just have to make sure we're on the same page at all times - honestly. It just goes back to us, we know who we have in our room (but) it's the little things.

"We don't have to change our style of play. We play hard and we play for each other, it's just the little things that - if we clean those things up - there should be no problem."

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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