FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys two-time First-Team All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons doesn't have much to be jealous about when it comes to life in the NFL.
He co-leads the league with 82 quarterback pressures (along with San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa) and is first in the NFL in quarterback pressure rate (20.1%) among those with at least 275 pass rush snaps in 2023. His efforts spearhead the NFL's top team pass rush -- the Cowboys lead the league with a 46.7% quarterback pressure rate while allowing 17.9 points per game, the fourth-fewest in the league. Those factors have led to Parsons being the betting favorite for the 2023 Defensive Player of the Year award (-145 on Caesars Sportsbook). However, when the 10-3 Cowboys hit the road to face the 7-6 Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Parsons will run into a player he's jealous of: Madden 24 cover boy and Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
"Obviously, Josh, you have to put him in a different space because he was a cover of Madden," Parsons said Thursday. "He's up there with the greats. So I never told Josh this, but I'm a little jealous because he was on the cover of Madden. I think growing up I think that's everyone's dream."
Now, it's Dallas dream for Parsons to ruin Allen's day and force him to turn the ball over to clinch a third consecutive postseason appearance for the first time since their 1990s Super Bowl glory years when they reached the playoffs six years in a row (1991-1996) and winning three Super Bowls in that span (1992-1993, 1995). That will be easier said than done consider Allen is the only player in NFL history with 25 or more passing touchdowns (25, tied for second-most in the NFL trailing only Dak Prescott's 28 in 2023) and 10 or more rushing touchdowns (10, tied for fourth-most in the NFL in 2023) through 13 games of a season. His nine games with a passing and rushing touchdown this season are tied for the most by any player in a season in NFL history, joining Cardinals dual-threat quarterback Kyler Murray (2020) at nine. Standing at 6-5, 237 pounds, Allen's build resembles an inside linebacker's just as much as it does a quarterback's.
"Josh it tough, Josh is tough," Parsons said. "It's not like we didn't already know."
The Cowboys defense is gearing up for Allen to attempt to run through them like a battering ram at the end of some of his runs instead of sliding like most NFL quarterbacks. That reckless abandon as a runner in addition to his cannon of an arm led to Parsons making a unique comparison for Allen's play style.
"Yeah, Josh just don't really believe in sliding," Parsons said. "You know, Josh reminds me a lot of that one crazy guy at the frat. I probably would have hated Josh in college. The one that makes his friends get all the way drunk, and you just be like 'ha, ha, man I'm not going out with this guy, man.' He just does anything. He's that wild dude on the field man. He wants to dip his shoulder, he's going to talk trash, he's going to get rowdy. You shoot the beer pong, and he'll ace the cup. I would love to have a bar and grill out with Josh. Just not this weekend."
For Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, that approach to the quarterback position reminds him of his first starting quarterback as an NFL head coach with the Green Bay Packers: Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre. Favre retired as the NFL leader in every passing metric from touchdowns to completions, attempts, yards and interceptions. He was a true rollercoaster of a player, but when he was on, he was the only player in league history to win three consecutive NFL MVP awards (1995-1997).
"(Allen is) a dynamic player the way he plays the position, and he reminds me of a young Brett Favre in terms of his temperament and his ability to throw the ball in any quadrant of the field," McCarthy said Wednesday. He coached Favre for his final two seasons as a Green Bay Packer from 2006-2007. "Very aggressive running the ball. You have to treat him as a running back when he gets out there because he's not looking to go down or go out of bounds. Very impactful football player."
Even though one game above .500 is a disappointing record for Buffalo, one of the AFC's top contenders since 2020, the Cowboys know the Bills are never fully out of it with Allen at the offensive controls.
"I think we just have to play our game and stay focused," McCarthy said. "Every time we line up we have opportunities to take the ball away. We have to convert. He's a very, very aggressive player. It can definitely be a 60-plus minute football game. They're never out of it when he has the ball his hands"
The last time these two teams played was awhile ago: Thanksgiving 2019. Both starting quarterbacks were the same, but Dallas' head coach was still Jason Garrett at the time. Given the gap between meetings, the Cowboys are doing what they can to draw tendency lines to other, more common opponents.
"I would say there are similar styles [to Hurts and Allen]," Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said Monday when asked about Allen's dual-threat play style. "These who are really tough, strong runners, and I would count Allen and Hurts near the top of that list where not only can they make you miss, but they can also try to run you over like a running back. So for guys like that, there's quarterbacks draws and escaping out of the pocket and designed quarterback runs. Those are the things as we go through the week that we'll get more prepared with, but yeah he's certainly, from what I have seen, some exceptional plays by him on tape much like Hurts has."
Parsons and the Cowboys defense forced Hurts and his Eagles offense into three lost fumbles in their 33-13 win over Philadelphia in Week 14, something Dallas will look to continue in Week 15. Since Quinn became the Cowboys defensive coordinator and Dallas drafted Parsons in the 2021 offseason, the team's 88 takeaways since are the most in the league. In the same span, Allen's 54 turnovers are also the most in the NFL. He co-leads the NFL this season in interceptions (14) and turnovers (17) along with first-time starting quarterback Sam Howell in 2023. However, Parsons excepts a banner performance from Allen thanks to the the opportunity to play "America's Team."
"I think the awareness is always pretty high," Parsons said when facing teams that are known to put the football in harm's way. "We get the ball video every week that Quinn puts up. Josh is a guy who can go out there and have zero interceptions and four or five touchdowns, and he can have a game where he forces things. He's just a playmaker. He's just trying to make plays. I'm not the one to penalize him because I know what it looks like when he is making plays. You watch his tape, it's all over. You see why he's a great quarterback. I know we're the Dallas Cowboys, so I know what type of Josh Allen we're going to get. I don't think it's going to be the one that makes them costly decisions. I think it's going to be the one that's gonna kind of [try to] beat on us pretty bad. I'm excited for the matchup."
Generating turnovers has nothing to do with luck according to the Cowboys. It's something they drill over and over and over again.
"Ultimately, it's the players buying in and exercising the technique," McCarthy said Thursday. "Those kinds of techniques, ball extraction, it's a fine motor skill. You can improve fine motor skill. Now, we coach it and feel we coach it better than anybody. But it's more about the confidence. I think if you're ever in a defensive room, special teams room, team meeting on a Thursday when we go through the fundamentals of the Cowboys Six you see the confidence, the expertise and the understanding, and everyone wants to be on that video. [Special teams coordinator] John Fassel does the video for the Thursday meetings and it's great reinforcement. Ultimately, it comes down to the players. They're triggering on Sundays, they're aggressive with it. Our guys are high on ball skills. That's by design. You want defensive backs that can catch the ball just as good as receivers, and I feel we have that."
Second-year cornerback DaRon Bland leads the NFL with eight interceptions and an a league single-season record five pick-sixes while 2019 Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Stephon Gilmore, lines up on the other side of the formation. Dallas is a perfect 7-0 at home in the domed confines of AT&T Stadium, but they'll face quite different condition in Buffalo on Saturday. According to the Weather Channel, it will be in the 40s with a high chance of rain as well as winds between five and 20 miles an hour. For a defense, that's a win since that side of the ball's goal is always to muck things up for the opposing offense. Seems like God will be providing the muck on Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, exactly the way Parsons likes it.
"I like the rain," Parsons said. "The rain is exciting. It gets a little more slippery, a little bit more fun, a little more challenging. The rain should increase the intensity of the game. More time to just get after it [as receivers might slip or go slower through their route progressions]. I think that might play into our favor too."
