Off the field, Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons and Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud are great friends. On the field, they’re fierce rivals. Parsons left Penn State before Stroud got to Ohio State, but their direct opposition carried over to the NFL.
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Tonight’s Monday Night Football matchup is the first time they’ve faced one another. Ahead of the contest, Parsons spoke with ESPN’s Lisa Salters about what he – and the Dallas Cowboys’ defense – needed to do to slow down Stroud’s Houston Texans. He gave Stroud quite the lofty praise while doing so:
“[We] gotta get after him. When he’s comfortable… he’s probably the best quarterback in the NFL… [we] gotta put a little pressure on him, and get him off his spot.”
Stroud didn’t have a dominant day on Monday but the Dallas defense had less to do with it. the QB completed 23 of 34 passes for 257 yards, throwing one interception and no touchdowns, while also rushing three times for 26 yards
Parsons recorded only one sack in his first four games, then missed five weeks with an injury. He returned with intensity in Week 10, posting two sacks and one tackle for loss. However, Dallas’ outlook for the remainder of the 2024 campaign is bleak
Parsons thinks the Cowboys can turn their season around
Starting quarterback Dak Prescott is out for the season, and the defense is yielding 28.8 points per game through Week 10.
That said, Parsons isn’t giving up hope. He showed hope as he stated before the game that the Cowboys could still salvage things:
“[We’ve] gotta take it day by day, and that day starts tonight. We’ve gotta take care of business tonight. At home… Monday Night [Football]… we’ve gotta take advantage of that.”
Dallas, it turns out, couldn’t take advantage. The Texans defeated the Cowboys 34-10 at AT&T Stadium for the first time in franchise history.
The Texans surged ahead 14-0 in the first quarter, and their defense dominated the game from there. The defense recorded five sacks on Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush, intercepted him once, and even scored a touchdown following a strip sack.
With this loss, the Cowboys are 3-7 in the season, with their playoff chances dwindling and the worst odds they’ve seen in four years.
