Micah Parsons: Cowboys were not at their best in loss to Broncos

Dallas Cowboys rookie linebacker Micah Parsons may be new to the league, but he knows enough to say that his team’s performance on Sunday — a 30-16 loss to the Denver Broncos — was not reflective of Dallas’ fabric.

Parsons knows that the Cowboys are a better team than that, and he expressed frustration with how the game went, despite himself having a nice individual game. Parsons put up ten total tackles on Sunday, including eight solo stops, and an eye-opening 2.5 sacks (three total tackles for a loss). In the process, Parsons made franchise history and became the first rookie in Cowboys franchise history to have five-plus sacks through the first eight games of his career.

“I just think [the Broncos] played really well,” Parsons said after the game, visually frustrated with his team’s performance. “But they didn’t get our best game. There are no excuses.”

Moments after uttering the quote, a bug flying around the Cowboys’ media room almost landed on Parsons. Then, he walked away from the podium and uttered, “it’s just not my day.”

It certainly wasn’t the Cowboys’ day, Parsons has that much right. But the rookie himself still put together a nice performance in the loss.

Much like Parsons, Jerry Jones gives harsh assessment

After the game, Jerry Jones gave a harsh explanation of what he saw from his Cowboys, similar to what Parsons said postgame. First, Jones gave credit to the Denver Broncos, saying that the visiting team drew up a good game plan; then, however, he called the loss “inexplicable” on their own home turf.

“I thought they had a good plan against Dak [Prescott] and executed it well. We needed some plays to happen,” Jones said. “Certainly it’s inexplicable. … They played an outstanding football game against what we think is a good football team, and that’s the Dallas Cowboys.”

The Cowboys ended up losing 30-16. Despite having star quarterback Dak Prescott back from injury and a great game from Parsons, Dallas showed no fight in the game Sunday, scoring all 16 of their points — both off passing touchdowns to wide receiver Malik Turner — in the fourth quarter. Prescott completed 19 of his 39 passing attempts for 232 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

With the loss, the Cowboys — previously on a record-setting streak — had it snapped on Sunday. They entered the game with eight consecutive home games scoring at least 35 points with Prescott as their starting quarterback, the longest such streak in NFL history between a franchise and any quarterback, according to ESPN NFL insider Field Yates. The Broncos held the Cowboys scoreless until the fourth quarter and even then, the Cowboys garbage-time touchdowns hardly meant anything, as the game was far out of reach.