Micah Parsons came into Sunday with at least 2.0 sacks in 15 career games and exactly 2.5 sacks in four career games, but zero career games with at least 3.0 sacks. That changed Sunday in Arizona, where the Green Bay Packers edge rusher took down Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett three times and had a fourth sack negated by penalty in a dominant individual performance.
Parsons finished the Packers’ 27-23 win with a career-high 3.0 sacks, four tackles for loss and five quarterback hits, an eruption of disruptive pass-rushing production.
Parsons ended the Cardinals’ first drive with a sack on 3rd-and-goal from the 8-yard line, forcing Arizona to settle for three points. He ended a second drive in the red zone with a quarterback hit forcing an incompletion on second down and a sack on 3rd-and-goal from the 10-yard line, once again forcing the Cardinals to settle for three in the fourth quarter. Preventing touchdowns in both situations kept eight total points off the board; the Packers won by four.
His biggest sack was still probably his last. After the Packers took a 27-23 lead late, the Cardinals quickly picked up three first downs and had 1st-and-10 from the Packers’ 26-yard line with 32 seconds left and two timeouts left. Another lead change was still possible. But Parsons made a game-changing play, beating right tackle Jonah Williams and dumping Brissett for a 9-yard line. The Cardinals had a burn a timeout with 27 seconds left and then faced 2nd-and-19, and they never recovered.
Pro Football Focus charted Parsons with 10 total pressures. It’s possible that number will rise as they review the tape and finalize data on Monday.
Parsons had a fourth sack negated by a penalized hip drop tackle while taking down Brissett. The sack would have set up 3rd-and-14 from their own 25-yard line. Instead, the Cardinals got 15 yards and a first down, and the drive ended up in three points.
Parsons also had a tackle for loss and drew a holding penalty defending the run, so it wasn’t just a dominant pass-rushing performance.
The Packers needed every play from Parsons to win. The Cardinals consistently moved the football but stalled twice in the red zone thanks to Parsons, and with the game in the balance, the best player on the field made a big play in a big spot, allowing the Packers to escape.
