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By Bob Sturm
Nov 23, 2022
“Just incredible.”
That is how he was described by one of my Viking-fan friends who had not witnessed his offense — which appeared to be pretty close to unstoppable — trying to deal with Micah Parsons and this 2022 Cowboys defense. They had just beaten the Bills in Buffalo and were assured by many that the Bills defense is probably the gold standard of units you will have to overcome to win the Lombardi Trophy. The Bills and 49ers, probably.
Nobody saw the 2022 Cowboys as a group to be this elite standard of defense when the season began.
Almost three full months into the year, it is more and more obvious that the Cowboys pass rush is a real problem for almost everyone.
People might say Green Bay proved that isn’t true, but I almost believe it was more proven in Green Bay. Yes, it was one of the most feeble QB pressure days of the season, but the game was available on a huge early strip-sack and if the offense properly cashes in the ball taken from Aaron Rodgers on the 10-yard line for a 14-0 or even 10-0 lead, Dallas likely gets that game, too. But, overall, the posture of Green Bay should tell us that the Packers thought the best way to deal with the Dallas pass rush was not to deal with it at all. Run the ball over and over and only throw the ball when there was no other choice.
https://theathletic.com/3918511/2022/11/21/dallas-cowboys-schedule-season-standings-vikings/
Minnesota did not repeat the recipe. The Vikings entered the game full of confidence. But, boy it didn’t last long.
Dallas and its candidate for the best defensive player in football waited until the very first third down of the day — the third snap from scrimmage — before wrecking things.
This is how a game can be grabbed on one snap in the game’s first sequence.
1Q – 13:52 – third-and-3 – MIN 32 – Cousins sacked at MIN 25 for -7 yards by Parsons and fumbles, recovered by Armstrong
It’s third-and-short and the Cowboys have a four-man rush against a Vikings offensive line that feels pretty good about its tackles. Parsons is taking on second-year left tackle Christian Darrisaw (71). DeMarcus Lawrence is on veteran right tackle Brian O’Neill (75). You see the Vikings have a mesh concept right in front of Cousins to defeat man coverage, with a tight end dig route behind it with new TE T.J. Hockenson (87) and then an in with Justin Jefferson (18) emerging from Cousins’ right. This is their bread-and-butter play. Cousins can see that Lawrence is allowing the edge as he goes inside his man and Cousins is free to roll away from Parsons to his right and is more than happy to take that escape path because he only needs to run for three yards to prolong the drive.
He literally doesn’t even get off the hash, though, when it is clear to all of us that Parsons was not being blocked, but rather appeared to be slow-playing his move. Because almost when Parsons decided he was done with Darrisaw, he slips him and is chasing Cousins. We say it that way to be kind to Cousins, but we are about to see that Cousins will hardly be allowed a few steps. Meanwhile, you see the Cowboys coverage is waiting on the under to K.J. Osborn (17) where Dallas has three defenders hoping he throws it there blindly.
Cousins knows his next move is to normally go to the second level to Hockenson or Jefferson and Jefferson is ready for the in at the Vikings logo. Cousins also knows that if he resets to throw, he is going to get clobbered and bad things will happen. He has to try to run from an edge rusher who might be the fastest player on the field.
This is how fast it happens. From the time to run from one hashmark to the other, Cousins’ situation went from normal to critical and he has been doing this long enough to know that this is about to hurt.
And, yes, the one thing you can’t do here is let the ball out of your possession, but Parsons didn’t ask, he took. He swiped and not only caught Cousins, but knocked the ball loose. In the blink of an eye and before many fans could get to their seats, Parsons tried to make right the feeling he had all week that Dallas could not let the last game beat them twice. It is here in the banana stand.
Parsons does what he always does and sent a loud and clear message that this day is going to be one where there will be no doubt. He has had an unbelievable season but on Sunday he set his season high with nine pressures on his way to two sacks and several other moments when the damage could have been even worse.
Sometimes I wonder if we spend too much time on Parsons and should write more about his buddies. Then you talk to a couple of people who are experiencing Parsons for the very first time live and you realize what we are routinely treated with and should definitely not allow it to become normalized.
https://theathletic.com/3922379/2022/11/22/cowboys-offense-vikings-dak-prescott-tony-pollard/
Dallas had seven sacks.
I assume we all understand how rare that is, but let me reiterate, it has not happened for the Cowboys since 2008. That was the year Dallas led the NFL in sacks with 59 and actually had two seven-sack games. I often recoil when revisionist history claims that Tony Romo and his offensive buddies had no help during those Wade Phillips years because the defense was pretty devastating and led the NFL in sacks from 2007 to 2009 by a handsome margin. The Cowboys had nearly 50 more sacks than the NFL average over a three-year span with several high-sack players who were difficult to stop individually and nearly impossible as a group. But, that was almost 15 years ago and this current group might be even more dangerous.
Regardless, all-time, Dallas is 56-5 in games when they sack the opposing quarterback at least six times and it climbs to 31-2 when they sack the opposing quarterback at least seven times. In other words, you won’t be losing very often if you can get there that much.
From that point of the fumble, Dallas took control. It allowed a solitary field goal on the second drive and then did something amazing in the final eight drives of the game: It did not allow Minnesota to get the ball past its own 44-yard line. Not even once.
How can you keep that offense from midfield for nearly an entire afternoon?
It is called relentless pressure. Dallas had an entire stadium spooked. That one play we showed you above inspired many others and by late in the second quarter, you could see Minnesota’s veteran QB, who is capable of taking his share of hits, look like he had already decided that they would fight another day.
The eye level dropped and interest level seemed to drop, too. The Cowboys had stolen the will right away from the Vikings with a pass rush that was without mercy. And let me tell you something, that travels in the postseason. If Dallas can put that effort out there in January, it can beat anyone, anywhere.
That can be the thing of championships. And Dallas has not had something that special in a very long time.
Weekly data box: Week 11 at Minnesota
I have definitely never used so much green ink on the above graphic, but I also cannot remember having a game against a decent opponent and not having a single moment to gripe about all afternoon. The defense played a near-perfect game and we pretty much will tell you the offense did, too.
The Vikings had 183 yards of total offense, no drives making it to their own 45 after the first quarter and just one play of 20 yards all day?
If this isn’t the best game we have seen from a Dallas defense in a long time, I would love to hear another one. This was flat-out domination that should have Minnesota pretty concerned about those two teams and the particular matchup of its offensive line trying to block this pass rush.
It was a no-contest.
Next Gen throw chart: Kirk Cousins
That is Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Hockenson and Dalvin Cook over there. Those are some special players and a quarterback who is pretty accomplished. Dallas made them look like they would not win the Big 12.
Cowboys pass rush
The dominance is found in how well is your pass rush with four rushers or less. Only one of the seven sacks came off a blitz, so that is going to terrify this league. The Cowboys don’t need to bring more to get home. They get home just fine.
Week 11 splash plays
The rise of Sam Williams continues as the rookie was a menace again. At some point, you would want to give him more run, but at who’s expense on the edge? Parsons and Lawrence are great, Dorance Armstrong is very good, and Dante Fowler has been there, too. Williams is the fifth edge and he has been tremendous. Can he pass anyone on the ladder? This is the type of depth that could make you OK in case of injury.
2022 - Cowboys Splash Play Leaderboard
| PLAYER | SNAPS | TOTAL SPLASH PLAYS |
|---|---|---|
 Micah Parsons | 526 | 35 |
 DeMarcus Lawrence | 387 | 29 |
 Trevon Diggs | 619 | 20 |
 Donovan Wilson | 573 | 19 |
 Dorance Armstrong | 319 | 16 |
 Osa Odighizuwa | 343 | 16 |
 Leighton Vander Esch | 540 | 16 |
 Sam Williams | 140 | 15 |
 Dante Fowler | 212 | 15 |
 Jayron Kearse | 376 | 12 |
 Anthony Brown | 593 | 11 |
 Anthony Barr | 320 | 10 |
The season totals show Parsons with a nice lead over Lawrence with just an army of guys who average at least one sack a game. This is a great group doing great things.
I will skip the film study today on account of the short week, but I will also make sure you have this supercut of pass-rush dominance in the banana stand to see the seven-sack day in all of its glory. It is something to savor.
Happy Thanksgiving!