ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Micah Parsons finally got a sack for the Green Bay Packers against his former mentor in overtime, but nobody won in the star rusher’s return to Dallas on Sunday night,
The Cowboys had to settle for a short field goal on the opening possession in overtime, that kick coming two plays after Parsons tackled a scrambling Dak Prescott from behind at the 4 — on a play for no gain that went a sack.
Green Bay then drove the field for a field goal on the final play for a 40-40 tie.
Dallas was that deep in overtime after Prescott, while being pursed by Parsons, threw a deep pass that Jalen Tolbert caught for a 34-yard gain while somehow managing to get both feet in bounds.
Parsons finished with that one solo tackle and sack, along with two assisted tackles and three quarterback hurries.
On the Packers’ final defensive play of regulation, Parsons was charging hard and bumped into Prescott after he let go of a 28-yard TD to George Pickens in the final minute for a 37-34 lead.
That was the seventh consecutive lead-change touchdown before the Packers got a tying field goal at the end of regulation.
The reunion came exactly a month after the Cowboys unloaded the star rusher in a blockbuster trade that ended a long and acrimonious stalemate over a contract extension.
Parsons told The Associated Press at the start of the week that it would be “painful” to sack his mentor, Prescott.
But it was Parsons who seemed to be hurting himself late in the third quarter, when he briefly went into the injury tent after coming down hard on his behind and reaching at his lower back area on the sideline.
As he came out of the medical tent just as that touchdown drive was ending, Parsons got his helmet, then turned toward the field just as the Cowboys scored to go up 23-20. He raised his arms in apparent frustration and almost threw his helmet.
After the Packers retook the lead with a touchdown, Parsons was on the field for their first defensive play after that early in the fourth quarter — a drive that end with another Dallas TD and a 30-27 lead with five minutes left.
Parsons entered the game with 1 1/2 sacks for the Packers, while the Cowboys not surprisingly have been left with one of the worst pass rushes in the NFL. Dallas also had the 32nd-ranked pass defense, and on the game’s opening drive gave up a 46-yard pass from Jordan Love to Matthew Golden to convert third-and-9, and then a 2-yard TD catch by Romeo Doubs.
There were Dallas fans who tried to implore owner Jerry Jones to pay Parsons as the contract issue lingered through training camp and the preseason.
The trade was contingent upon Parsons agreeing to a $188 million, four-year extension. That $47 million annual average is the highest for a non-quarterback in league history.
Jones said he believed he had a deal in place with Parsons at $40.5 million per season, which at the time would have made Parsons the first defensive player to surpass $40 million annually.
The agreement came in a conversation between the two, and Jones never engaged Parsons’ agent despite the 2021 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year’s insistence that David Mulugheta be his final negotiator.
There were plenty of Parsons’ No. 11 Cowboys jerseys at AT&T Stadium, even a few doctored in some form of protest against Jones.
There were also a lot of No. 1 Packers jerseys, and plenty of Green Bay fans anticipating a lopsided win by the Packers, who were favored by a touchdown on the road, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. There were loud “Go Pack Go!” chants.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
The post Micah Parsons gets OT sack but nobody wins in Packers’ visit to Dallas a month after trade appeared first on WHNT.
