Cowboys rusher Micah Parsons earns Madden ratings boost, NFC honors after Week 2
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons has had one of the best season debuts among all NFL players this season through two weeks with 10 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery. The stellar performances have earned him acclaim and plenty of air time and this week, he has some awards to show for it.
For starters, the NFL named the former first-round draft pick as the NFC’s defensive player of the week after he and the Cowboys defense held the Jets to 10 points on Sunday. It’s the third time in his career that he’s won the weekly award. He also won NFC DPOW after Week 5 last season and after Week 8 in his rookie season.
Parsons is now tied for second in Cowboys franchise history with Sean Lee with three NFC DPOW awards. Only one defender has earned more – Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware – with four.
On top of his three sacks through two games, Parsons also has 12 quarterback pressures – recording six versus the Giants then another six against the Jets.
His ability to lethally pick apart an opposing offensive line over the first two weeks of the season also caught the eye of the Madden NFL raters. The game announced on Wednesday that Parsons now has a 98 rating, just one mark shy of the perfect and elusive 99.
In response to the boost in his ratings, the Cowboys star posted on X: “Also madden ima linebacker And rusher!! Do not restrict me to defensive line only!!’
Parsons raised expectations for Cowboys defense this summer
Before the season started, Parsons set the bar high for the Cowboys defense in 2023. The third-year linebacker wanted Dallas to level up on that side of the football.
“I’m trying to be on that Ray Lewis defense. I’m trying to hold teams under 10 points,” Parsons said on The Pivot Podcast in the offseason. “(If opponents) don’t score 10 points, we win the game. … We gotta hold teams under 10 points.”
So far, so good. Dallas kept the Giants scoreless in Week 1 and held the Jets to just 10 points on Sunday. Through two games, the Cowboys are allowing just five points per game while scoring 35 per contest. That’s going to win a lot of football games.
Dallas’ defense wasn’t bad last season, but Parsons saw plenty of room for improvement.
“I think there was another level that we could’ve tapped in,” Parsons said. “We missed interceptions. We missed opportunities to get the ball back to our offense. They probably could’ve capitalized.”
The Cowboys get back to work on Sunday with another afternoon game. They’ll travel to face the Arizona Cardinals for the 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff.
On3’s Dustin Schutte contributed to this report.