Cowboys’ pass-rush bullied the Giants. Here’s how Micah Parsons and Co. did it

By Geoff Schwartz
FOX Sports NFL Analyst

The Dallas Cowboys‘ defense is a problem.

The group has only allowed three offensive touchdowns through three weeks. They are terrorizing pass-protection units, with 65 total pressures through the first three weeks of the season. That includes 13 sacks, with Defensive Player of the Year candidate Micah Parsons having four and defensive end Demarcus Lawrence adding three. Those two pass-rushers are the engine of Dallas’ defensive success.

That pass rush overwhelmed the Giants‘ blocking unit on Monday Night. According to ESPN Stats and Info, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was pressured on 24 dropbacks. Yikes. The Giants’ offensive line is now allowing pressure on 40% of Jones’ drop-back pass attempts, second only to the pressure rate of Justin Fields. Even with Parsons sick and the Dallas pass rush facing a subpar pass-blocking unit, they did some impressive things to generate those pressures.

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The Cowboys’ pass rush has generated pressures all season in the same way they did last night. They have individual pass rushers who excel at their jobs. The Cowboys also align their best pass-rushers in different positions each rep, so it’s difficult to game plan against what the Cowboys pass rush might do. Lastly, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn utilizes some funky exotic pressures that have given blockers issues. Let’s break down what I saw against the Giants.

Individual wins

Demarcus Lawrence dominated his matchup against rookie right tackle Evan Neal. Lawrence was able to use the same pass rush move, a cross chop, multiple times for a sack. When a lineman strikes with his outside arm, the defensive player uses their opposite arm to cross over the striking arm and chop it down. As the defender removes the offensive lineman’s arm, he steps through to clear the body of the lineman. Stepping through allows the defender an angle to continue his rush to the quarterback without hesitation.

When Lawrence chops down Neal’s arm, Neal’s feet stopped and he leaned over, being off balance. This allowed Lawrence to finish towards the quarterback. Neal needs to wait to strike, allowing the defender to get closer to him for a strike. This will keep his feet moving instead of reaching to strike the defender. It’s very well-done by Lawrence and Neal had no answer.

Micah Parsons was not able to sack Daniel Jones, but he was a destructive force regardless. He’s an incredibly explosive athlete with strength and flexibility to match. The highlight play of him trucking the poor right guard and finishing the rush by hitting Jones was impressive. The right tackle needs to punch Parsons as he rushes inside so he doesn’t get a free run at the right guard. 

Here’s an example of Parsons’ crazy twitch. He’s aligned outside the defensive end, and Thomas takes a pass set anticipating an outside rush. In the blink of an eye, Parsons immediately veers course to take an inside rush. Thomas tries to correct his course but it’s ugly. The running back needs to pick up Parsons. When he doesn’t, it allows his defender to wrap around for a hit on Daniel Jones.

Optimal alignment

What second-year defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has done this season is make his pass-rushers interchange parts. Lawrence and Parsons are able to line up in different spots in each pass-rushing situation, which allows the Cowboys to find more favorable matchups. Here, Parsons and Lawrence are both aligned over the offensive guards. While interior offensive linemen might see some defensive ends inside, it’s not all that common. When the ball is snapped, both of these elite pass-rushers win almost immediately against interior linemen who aren’t as quick as their offensive tackle counterparts.

Nifty pass-rush alignments

The Cowboys also give offensive linemen and the blocking unit plenty to worry about with their alignments. The Cowboys are not going to line up in a basic four-man front with two inside linebackers. They rarely align even in an overload. Their goal is getting one-on-one matchups across the board. Here’s an example of this with Parsons starting off the ball. At the snap, he crosses behind one defensive tackle while the second defensive tackle wraps around Parsons. It ends up being a three-man line stunt where you have every lineman blocking one on one.

The Cowboys have a pass rush built to last throughout the season. With their ability to create pressure while aligning statically or moving their pieces around, they will have an advantage on pass-protecting units this season. 

Geoff Schwartz played eight seasons in the NFL for five different teams. He started at right tackle for the University of Oregon for three seasons and was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection his senior year. He is an NFL analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @GeoffSchwartz.