Anyone following the Dallas Cowboys knew what was coming Monday morning.
Dallas fans would relish the victory and know this team could be different from previous squads.
On the other side, cynics tend to move the goalposts and discredit the win by saying things like – the New York Giants somehow are not a good football team.
They can miss me with all of that.
Week 1 is not about declaring a Super Bowl champion, but it is about identifying the positives and negatives of a division game.
Most of those who watched that shellacking would say the defense is a top-2 unit in all football. But why is that?
Micah Parsons. Stephon Gilmore and Trevon Diggs – you would not be wrong by choosing them. The hybrids should get some love, and I’ll be first in line to show them some.
Micah Parsons has started his season on a Defensive MVP note
Watching the New York Giants 1st-round tackles (Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal) block on the edges was a travesty.
We all know this beatdown was a collective effort of the Cowboys’ defense, but the engine that got it all started is Mr. Hybrid himself, Micah Parsons.
The last time I wrote something about versatile defenders, I purposefully left Parsons off the list.
Not because he was underserving but because he was a layup pick. This time, I’d would be insane to leave him off.
The sacks will only tell you part of the story with Micah, even though he should have ended the night with three. He played 40 total snaps, of which 26 were pass-rush opportunities.
He lined up 33 snaps on the outside and 7 in the box as a linebacker. When he crept up to either A gap, I began to feel sorry for the interior offensive line. They could do nothing with his speed, power, and explosiveness.
During his brief time as a pure linebacker at Penn State, there were moments when you could forget this version of Parsons existed. It was a disservice to fans not being able to see him in this role.
He is vital to this defense, and unfortunately for Daniel Jones, he opened the floodgates for his fellow defenders.
Markquese Bell made the most of his playing time against the G-Men
All I can say is wow. Most people thought Markquese Bell could be a legit contributor, and he came out the gate guns blazing.
When DeMarvion Overshown went down in the preseason, Bell was ready and willing to play some of that linebacker role.
Dallas needed his physicality on Sunday night mainly because they played a team that wanted to run the ball, and the defense also missed Donovan Wilson.
It was an impressive performance for a player who only played 31 snaps, as he managed to record six solo tackles and force a fumble.
The form tackle against Matt Breida that made the ball fly out like a hot potato should give Cowboys fans confidence in his ability to stop runners in their tracks.
Of those snaps, 29 were around the line as a linebacker. Saquon Barkley had 53 rushing yards, and Bell’s ability to read and react gave the team a speedier linebacker who could tackle and cover.
He allowed counterparts like Leighton Vander Esch to play to his strengths, like attacking forward rather than backpedaling in coverage.
Juanyeh Thomas has found a home in Big D
Juanyeh Thomas is another one of those safeties who can play in the secondary but come up and lay the wood when necessary.
He arguably made the play that started the onslaught on Sunday night. That blocked field goal was the perfect play at the right time.
Not to mention, he cleared the way for Noah Igbinoghene with a nice block against the kicker. That probably didn’t take much, but he gets the credit for it.
However, it’s much more than the stats for Thomas. Juanyeh looks like a player who belongs in the NFL, and his confidence is at an all-time high.
The former Georgia Tech Yellowjacket was running around like a kid in a candy store.
He logged 29 coverage snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, and allowed a whopping 39.6 passer rating, including a pass breakup.
I wrote a story last week asking who should get the first crack at Darren Waller.
Well, a few different guys got a shot at him, and Thomas was in the group.
Each year, Dan Quinn finds this guy who he plugs in as a contributor. Some have higher ceilings than others. First, it was Jayron Kearse in year one and players like Bell in year two.
Year three is no different for the exceptional defensive coordinator.
These versatile, hybrid defenders may be the difference in how far this defense and team go.
