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Cowboys Micah Parsons can take the NFL lead in sacks this week

The Dallas Cowboys are set to host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night and just about everyone is feeling fairly confident that the Cowboys will win their third game in a row. It is worth mentioning that this is the NFL and that wild and crazy things happen all the time, but on paper (where games are admittedly not won) there is all the reason in the world to believe that Sunday night will belong to Dallas.

One of the biggest factors involved here is number 11 on the Cowboys side of things. Micah Parsons has been a revelation since just about Day 1 and figures to keep up his fantastic form against a quarterback that is highly susceptible to the opposing team’s pass rush. Matt Ryan, who Dan Quinn obviously knows well from their time together with the Atlanta Falcons, has struggled during his first season in Indianapolis and is far from what people would call mobile.

That could lead to a big night for Parsons and his friends.

Micah Parsons can take the lead in sacks across the NFL this week

To date the Dallas Cowboys have 45 sacks on the season which goes without saying is a lot. When you contextualize that by noting that the Cowboys “only” had 24 sacks at this exact same point in the season last year, then it really puts things in perspective in terms of how often they are getting after the opposing quarterback.

Parsons is a big reason for that. While his presence allows for other defenders to feast as well, he is also producing at an incredibly high rate. In fact, Parsons entered this week with 12 sacks, which was good for second place across the entire league.

The only player ahead of Parsons in the sacks department is New England Patriots pass rusher Matt Judon. Like the Cowboys, the Patriots played on Thanksgiving Day but they also played on Thursday Night Football this week which means they have already played their game for this particular week. For the first time all season, Judon went consecutive games without a sack so he has been sitting on 13 for a minute.

Doing that quick math you obviously know that Parsons trails Judon by a single sack, and with the latter having played already this week, the former has an opportunity to pass him. Here are the league’s leaders in sacks with Week 13’s Thursday night game now out of the way.

NFL sack leaders through Thursday night of Week 13
  • Matt Judon, New England Patriots………………. 13 (already played this week)
  • Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys………………. 12
  • Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers………………. 11.5
  • Max Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders………………. 10.5
  • Brian Bruans, Carolina Panthers………………. 10 (on bye this week)
  • Alex Highsmith, Pittsburgh Steelers………………. 10
  • Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns………………. 10
  • Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs……………………. 10
  • Za’Darius Smith, Minnesota Vikings………………. 9.5
  • Justin Houston, Baltimore Ravens………………. 9

San Francisco’s Nick Bosa is right on Parsons’ heels, only trailing by half a sack, but other than that there is a bit more distance between Parsons (obviously Matt Judon as well) and the rest of the leaders across the league.

While a lot has been made about the matchup between Dan Quinn and Matt Ryan, the two have already faced off since Quinn was fired by the Falcons, last year when Dallas hosted Atlanta. That day the Cowboys had their way with the Falcons and they got Matt Ryan twice as far as sacks are concerned, one coming from Dorance Armstrong and the other thanks to Micah Parsons.

The Cowboys may have had two sacks as a team against Atlanta in 2021, but Parsons has specialized in having two sacks by himself at a highly frequent rate. Interestingly, in games where Parsons has recorded a sack this season, he has gotten to the quarterback twice and no more or less.

Micah Parsons sacks by game so far this season

If that trend holds true then Parsons would at the very least leapfrog Judon as far as sack totals through Week 13. What’s more is that barring some sort of insane performance from someone else (Nick Bosa would be the most logical choice as noted) he would likely end the week as the league’s sack leader. Of course, there are still five more weeks to go in the regular season after Week 13, though.

It should go without saying that Parsons leading the league in sacks whether through Week 13 or across the entire season is not the most important thing for the Dallas Cowboys. But we want to see individual players succeed and in the process lift the team up, so Parsons getting to that point would be great to see. Along those lines, this game is in December and on primetime, so Parsons showing out and taking over as the sack leader could go a long way in the discussions of Defensive Player of the Year further down the road.

For what it’s worth Micah Parsons has played 27 games in the NFL to this point and has recorded at least two sacks an incredible nine times. This means that there is a 33% probability that he will do so again on Sunday night. and in the process likely end the week as the sack leader across the league.