Acme Packing Company
Micah Parsons played 29 snaps on defense in his first game action for the Packers in week one and his impact was felt right away from the moment he first took the field on an early third down in the first quarter. He finished the game with 3 pressures per NFL NextGenStats (1 sack, 1 hit, 1 hurry) and made opposing Lions quarterback Jared Goff look uncomfortable on some key downs.
While he didn’t have any stops on run defense, he was solid there too and his contributions helped the Packers cruise to a 27-13 lead, a game that was 27-6 at one point and a bit more lopsided than it officially ended.
Although his sack on Goff didn’t come until the game’s final minutes, it was symbolic of the constant pressure Goff was under all game long against a defense that registered four total sacks, an interception, and NINE tackles for losses.
Right away, his impact was felt on third down when he entered the game for the first time. The defense overloaded the right side of the offensive line with a late walk-up to show a blitz just before the snap. Parsons is aligned on the outside shoulder of Penei Sewell on the offense’s right side.
The late walk-up and simulated pressure generates a 1-on-1 for Parsons against Sewell as the right guard’s attention is on the interior rush to his left as Lukas Van Ness drops into an underneath zone. Parsons beats Sewell with an inside and flushes Goff from the pocket as Goff was going to set up and throw a dig route in behind the intermediate defenders. He ended up escaping and dumping the ball off for an eventual loss.
Later on in the late 2nd quarter, he pressured Goff into a quick, errant throw that was intercepted by Evan Williams and critical to keep the Lions off the scoreboard before the end of the half.
He beat Sewell again to the inside with a nice club and swim move after getting Parsons to commit to the edge with a power step. The step move got Sewell to react and punch forward just as Parson to club him aside to move inside. The move was effective at pressuring Goff in less than 2 seconds.
His sack wasn’t a true pass rush win, but the hustle and motor was incredible to watch.
It’s late in the 4th quarter on a 2nd and 10 in Lions territory with the Lions trying to salvage anything they can at this point. Parsons is on the right edge of the defense and fights and claws his way through the blockers into the back field where he flushes and chases down Goff from behind. The Lambeau crowd and sideline erupted when it happened.
He didn’t play many run defense snaps, only logged seven total, with the seventh being the late fourth quarter sack as Goff was scrambling above. But one of the constant criticisms of Parsons after the trade was that...
