Sunday was about as bad as it can get for the Dallas Cowboys defense. From watching the New Orleans Saints score a touchdown on their first six possessions of the game to Dallas not forcing a punt until the halfway point of the fourth quarter.
It was all bad for a Cowboys defense that looked so good just a week ago. Things need fixing, and star pass rusher Micah Parsons acknowledged this in his latest podcast episode.
Cowboys’ Micah Parsons Opens Up About Poor Performance
Parsons got some slack over the last year for having a podcast, but this week, it may be a bit refreshing for Cowboys fans to see a star player raise his hand and take ownership of a poor performance.
Such is the case on the latest episode of The Edge, where Parsons got surprisingly candid regarding his and the rest of his teammate’s effort and performance against the Saints.
Micah Parsons reacts to Cowboys' 44-19 loss to Saints
(via The Edge with Micah Parsons)" pic.twitter.com/0ZhIVVuri0
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 16, 2024
“My biggest takeaways from that game…one, the effort was not there by all of us,” Parsons started. “The effort by all 11 wasn’t there. The basic fundamentals of the game of football was not there, and at the end of the day, you have a standard who you are in training camp and throughout this process to get you ready for the season, we didn’t uphold that standard.
“That wasn’t the Dallas Cowboys that I saw, or I knew that showed up last week. It was not the same team this week. Was it the preparation? What was it? I don’t know but I’m determined to get this thing right.
“I’m trying to step up. I’m trying to be that guy for our team, and we have to be a whole lot better.”
Parsons alludes to the fact that he wanted to be a more effective leader this offseason. For him to come out and speak so bluntly about his and the team’s performance, perhaps Cowboys fans can take just a little bit of solace in the ownership of what was a poor performance.
How Dallas responds on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens is ultimately what matters most. But accountability in the days following a poor showing is at least a good start in recognizing their error.
Cowboys’ Known Issues Remain at Large
What Parsons is saying is good and all. To take ownership and call out how it was unacceptable is commendable.
However, we’ve all seen this story play out before. And it was part of the reason why fans and pundits alike were so adamant about the Cowboys being aggressive in free agency despite knowing it isn’t something they are comfortable doing.
However, teams running all over them, not being able to overcome early deficits, and things getting completely off the tracks are all things Cowboys fans are well aware of when it comes to this team.
Dallas has been bullied on the defensive line for a few years now. They’ve been labeled a front-runner all through 2023, and when things go bad, they go really bad. So while the way it went down on Sunday is alarming, it isn’t all that foreign to them.
Whether it’s the 49ers (who are their kryptonite) or any team on any given Sunday that can stun them, the Cowboys are no strangers to coming out flat and getting beat. Even if they can do it to anyone themselves, they’re always on upset alert, which is part of the consistency problem that has plagued Dallas over the last decade.
So, yes, it’s nice Parsons can call out the error in their ways, but how do he and those around him stop it from continuing? That’s the million-dollar question, and without the answer, we could be in store for more of the same ole’ Cowboys in 2024.