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Several players along the defensive front seven are benefiting from the mere presence of Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons being on the field.
Does it seem like Micah Parsons hasn’t had nearly the same effect in the last two games as he did in the first two? Perhaps. Defenses are finding ways to slow him down. Through five weeks, he’s 2nd in double team/chip rate (67%) behind only Myles Garrett per Pro Football Focus. His pass rush win rate in true pass sets, also per PFF, is 31%.
Safe to say he’s having an impact even if the stats don’t necessarily reflect it. And his impact is allowing other players to reap the benefits as well. In 2024, no defensive linemen on the defense had above a 17% win rate. Devonte Wyatt and Rashan Gary were the leaders with 16%. In 2025, five players have a 20% win rate in true pass sets. So far, they have not had to generate pressure in creative ways like they did last season.
So, how is Parsons’s impact paying off for other players? Primarily through the ways defense allocates resources down to down to block him and limit his influence.
On a blitz and sack in week 3 versus Cleveland, the defense showed man coverage from the start with a 6-man rush. This is essentially a cover-0 blitz, but there’s a deep safety while leaving the tight end uncovered.
The front has six defenders on the line of scrimmage, with Parsons being the sixth man and aligned just on the heels of the defensive tackle. Since he can rush from anywhere from this alignment, the offensive line now has to sort out the immediate threat.
The alignment of Parsons confuses the blocking scheme, and the defense gets a free rusher on quarterback Joe Flacco from the interior with Rashan Gary, who shot through his gap untouched.
There was a bust in protection, and it came from the right tackle, who needed to take the most dangerous man inside. But with the line sliding left, there should have been a full slide from everyone, but the Browns didn’t adequately sort it because of where and how Parsons was aligned.
By week two, Parsons started making his presence felt when the Packers recorded another four-sack game on Jayden Daniels. Parsons split a sack here with Edgerrin Cooper.
The offense is running two in-breaking routes from the left and two vertical routes on the right. The defense is sending a 5-man pressure and playing cover-1 behind it.
Cooper loops around from the interior alignment to get a free rush due to the line sliding toward Parsons. Cooper and Parsons met at the quarterback to take him down.
Parsons won on this rep in less than 2.5 seconds to the inside of Josh Conerly. He sets up Conerly with an outside power step move, getting Conerly to commit and open to his right while attacking off balance. Parsons uses both his hands to swipe away...
