CBS had a camera essentially dedicated to Micah Parsons in his Green Bay Packers debut on Sunday. Whether he was on the sideline or in the game, the cutaways to him came early and often.
From a broadcast perspective, Parsons was the center of attention. As for his impact on the field, Parsons was felt in many more ways than just one.
Let’s start with the direct impact.
Parsons played 29 snaps (30 if you count a play with a penalty, which the NFL includes in its totals, which is weird, but I digress) and finished with three quarterback pressures and a sack.
On the sack, Parsons looked like a cheetah in the wild stalking its prey. Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who had escaped a collapsing pocket towards the near sideline and never saw Parsons coming, looked like a wounded gazelle.
Parsons’ three quarterback pressures turned into a sack, an Evan Williams interception, and a pass completion by the Lions that went for negative two yards.
That’s the direct impact Parsons had on Sunday.
If you want to talk scary hours for the rest of the league, Parsons looked pretty good on Sunday and commented afterwards that he’s still in the ramping-up period after missing the entire offseason before the Packers traded for him.
I didn’t even get to really burst out yet, you know what I mean. I’m going to keep getting better. There’s a lot of things that I want to fix. I feel like I didn’t have a complete game and, obviously, that’s going to happen not playing for six months. But I can take this and build on it, and we’re going to be a really good football team.
Now, let’s look at the tertiary impact Parsons had. To break it down, let’s consider his sack of Goff.
Green Bay was leading 27-6 with a shade over four minutes to go in the game on Sunday. For all intents and purposes, the curtains had already been pulled down. The Packers would be 1-0 and the Lions would be 0-1. That didn’t stop Parsons from putting his stamp on things.
On his sack of Goff, Parsons had to cover a lot of ground and chase Goff down all the way in front of the Green Bay sideline.
It wasn’t a missed assignment by anyone on Detroit’s offensive line. It wasn’t a pocket that instantly collapsed and gave Parsons a layup of a sack. This was Parsons always being on “go,” as he said in his introductory press conference.
Late in a 27-6 game, it would’ve been easy for Parsons to see Goff escape all the way to the opposite side of the field and mentally check out of the rep. Instead, he fully accelerated and hunted Goff down, notching his first of what will be many sacks with the Packers.
The Packers sideline erupted, and it proved to be an incredible teaching moment for all the young guys on Green Bay’s roster. If Parsons is playing with that motor in a blowout with only four minutes left, what’s everyone else’s excuse?
The Packers drafted Barryn Sorrell and Collin Oliver in April. Both will be tasked — once healthy and cleared to go — to get after the opposing quarterback. Having them see Parsons play in that moment with the score as crooked as it was can have a domino effect on the rest of the defense.
Lastly, let’s look at the impact he can have on Lukas Van Ness, one of Green Bay’s younger edge rushers. Van Ness has two underwhelming seasons under his belt as a former first-round pick. Year 3 will be critical for Van Ness to show the proof is in the pudding.
Parsons noted after the game that he’s going to do his part to help Van Ness.
Van Ness is going to have his best year yet. I’m going to make sure of it. That guy is a very selfless player, he’s very selfless. He’s one of those guys that can go anywhere, he plays the run, he does everything. He’s the high-quality player that you just want to be around.
Having Parsons, who’s had immense success in his first four years in the NFL, serve as a mentor of sorts for Van Ness, who has struggled, certainly won’t hurt. Knowing Parsons is in his corner and wants to help elevate the third-year player to that next level will inject confidence in Van Ness.
Finally, let’s look at one more rep.
On a third-and-16, buried at their own one-yard line, the Lions opted to hand it to David Montgomery. Montgomery barely got the ball put in his lap before Colby Wooden greeted him. Wooden was unblocked right up the middle.
How? Because the Lions double-teamed and put all their attention on Parsons, leaving Wooden untouched to chew up and spit out Montgomery for another negative play.
That’s a hell of an impact to have in your Packers debut.
