Cowboys Country

Micah Parsons Second-Best On Defense? Cowboys vs. Patriots Matthew Judon for NFL MVP?

Micah Parsons is the "Lion-backer'' who has become a face of the franchise guy for the Dallas Cowboys. And in New England? Patriots pass-rusher Matthew Judon is ... who?

Richie Whitt

FRISCO - In Dallas, this is considered a no-brainer: Micah Parsons is the best defensive player in the NFL, maybe its best player, maybe so much so that he should leapfrog right over being NFL Defensive Player of the Year - a category in which he finished second last season as a rookie - and join a cadre of QBs as MVP finalists.

And in New England? Patriots pass-rusher Matthew Judon is quietly making a case to join Micah ... or maybe even, the Pats will argue, to beat him out as a prime candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the Year as the schedule ticks past the halfway mark.

“It is wild no one is talking about him more,” Pats' safety Devin McCourty said when asked about Judon leading the NFL in sacks. “He just goes out there and lets the tape talk for itself.''

That, of course, is a slightly different approach than the one taken by Parsons, the "Lion-backer'' who has become a face of the franchise guy for the Dallas Cowboys.

Parsons has eight sacks in eight games, and maybe no pass-rusher in history has made a bigger impact as quickly as the vocal Penn State product. He has a habit of delivering colorful boasts with such clarity and sincerity that they almost don't sound boastful.

“I don’t want to be anything short of the No. 1 (player in the NFL),'' he said recently. "That’s the type of confidence I have. I want to be the best. … I want to be feared.”

And yes, Micah is there. Said Dallas coach Mike McCarthy: "He wreaks havoc. He's the definition of 'elite.''

Meanwhile, Judon has 11.5 sacks in nine games following his three sacks of Sam Ehlinger in last Sunday's dominating 26-3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. He's on pace to shatter New England single-season record of 18.5 and ...

Now both Parsons and Judon are in position to flirt with the NFL record of 22.5 sacks held by former New York Giants' star Michael Strahan and injured Pittsburgh Steeler T.J. Watt.

After watching the hat-trick sack performance against the Colts, Pats' running back Rhamondre Stevenson marveled at Judon.

“It’s crazy,” Stevenson said. “There’s not many people that can block that man."

Shrugged a humble Judon, "It was just one of those games. My teammates go out there, put me in great situations to execute,”

Led by Judon's array of speed-rushes around the edge and stunts freeing him up the middle, the Patriots defense so embarrassed the Colts that they fired head coach Frank Reich in the wake of the loss. New England (now 5-4) sacked Ehlinger nine times and held Indy to 0 of 14 on third down.

Throw out the 33-14 Monday Night Football outlier loss to the Chicago Bears in which the entire team was literally in the fog, and during their 4-1 surge the Pats' defense has limited opponents to 0, 15, 17 and 3 points.

That, of course, is the sort of series of numbers Parsons has talked about as well as the Dallas defense has established a solid habit of trying to allow no more than one TD per game and is allowing just 16 points per.

The 6-2 Cowboys' opinion of Parsons is so high that defensive assistant Joe Whitt Jr. swears he could be an NFL starter as a running back, a safety, a tight end, a cornerback, a tight end ... most anything except QB.

And we'd advise Whitt to avoid telling Micah that, lest he insist on trying.

Are the Cowboys more "right'' about their guy than the Patriots are about theirs?

"He’s one of the greatest pass rushers I’ve ever seen in my life," said linebacker Josh Uche ... with words that apply to both Judon and Parsons.

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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