'This is a Super Bowl!' Micah Parsons Drives Cowboys at Giants Hype

"This,'' says Micah Parsons of the Week 1 visit by the Cowboys to the Giants, "is like a Super Bowl!''

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Micah Parsons wants it both ways. And hey, as he enters his third NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys star has pretty much gotten almost anything he's wanted ... so go ahead, "Lion-backer,'' what double-shot do you want now as your Cowboys are here in the Big Apple prepping for their season-opener, a "Sunday Night Football'' matchup against the NFC East-rival New York Giants.

On the one hand, Micah doesn't want to bow to the "rivalry game,'' not even one as heated as Cowboys-Giants. So, he insisted this week, he will be bringing the same intensity to this matchup as he does to every other.

"Nah man, everyone gets the same smoke," said. "It doesn't matter if we're in Wisconsin or in Boston — I'm treating everybody the same."

At the same time, Parsons recognizes the greater importance of Sunday's opener. The Cowboys may have won both games against the Giants last year, but they did so with each contest game being decided by one score. New York, like Dallas, was a wild card playoff team last year, so ...

"This,'' Micah said, "is like a Super Bowl!''

Wait ... it's both "just another game with the same amount of smoke'' and it's "like a Super Bowl''?

That's not especially logical. But Parsons' achievements in his NFL career sort of defy logic, too, as he's been the No. 2 vote-getter for Defensive Player of the Year in each of these first two seasons. 

Also illogical to some, or at least imbalanced: The Cowboys have had the Giants' number over the past several years. Dallas has won 11 of the last 12 matchups, with the lone loss coming in the regular-season finale in 2020, when the Cowboys were without starting quarterback Dak Prescott.

In the end, to Parsons, there is a focus on Week 1 as it is "extremely important ... The Giants aren't a walkover team.'' But then there is the big picture, too ... the stuff dreams are made of.

"Every night it's, 'Super Bowl, Super Bowl, Super Bowl.,'" Parsons said of his bedtime mindset. "But, I don't get too caught up on it — at the same time — because I know I have to take care of each week as its own. Each day has worries of its own. You have to focus on getting better inch by inch and, eventually, you'll build enough inches to where you are in the Super Bowl."