Two good defenses took the field at AT&T Stadium on Sunday afternoon. One walked away as the best in the NFL.
"You just witnessed the best defense in the world, we don't care about nobody else," Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence told NFL Network's Omar Ruiz after the Dallas demolished the New York Jets, 30-10. "They've got to come match our energy."
The Cowboys squelched any ray of sunlight the Jets thought they'd get in a "new" Zach Wilson this season in Sunday's blowout.
Dallas' D swarmed the quarterback, generating three sacks and a boatload of pressures (23). Dan Quinn's unit held the Jets to 64 total rushing yards with a fumble, and Wilson to 170 passing yards, a 44.4 completion percentage and three interceptions. Outside of allowing a 68-yard touchdown to Garrett Wilson, the Cowboys' defense put on a clinic in taking advantage of an opponent's weaknesses.
"This is expected for where we want to go," linebacker Micah Parsons said on Sunday, via the team's official website. "[This game] just means that you're improving. Finishing games, closing them out, smothering people, not giving them that hope and dream that they can come back in this game when they're on the same playing field as us. I'm very happy with where we're at right now."
Parsons was the catalyst behind the dominant performance. Moving all over the formation, the bamboozler generated two sacks, four QB hits, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He's the first player to reach those totals in a single game since Chandler Jones in Week 7, 2019 -- the only players to do so since 2018: Parsons, Jones, Aaron Donald, Von Miller.
Parsons also added nine QB pressures, seven QB hurries and one turnover forced by pressure, per Next Gen Stats.
The 24-year-old became the sixth player since sacks became official in 1982 to have 10-plus games with at least two-plus sacks in their first three seasons. He's got 15 more outings to match or pass Reggie White's 16.
"I'm just hungry," Parsons said. "It doesn't matter where I'm at, I'm coming. I don't care if I'm gassed out, my lungs hurt. It's mind over matter. Every time I'm out there, I seize every opportunity. I take this extremely to the heart. This organization changed my life, so I'm trying to give everything I have back to the fans, back to Mr. Jones and all my teammates."
The Cowboys are one of three teams to have scored 70+ points and allowed 10 through its first two games of a season since the 1970 merger -- 2019 Patriots and 1970 Lions (both made playoffs). The +60 margin of victory in two games against New York teams is the second-best scoring margin through two games in franchise history behind only 1968 (+67 through two games) and tops since the merger.
