Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons has emerged as one of the most dominant pass rushers in the entire league, overwhelming NFL offensive tackles nearly every game. And yet, he rarely draws any holding penalties as those hapless offensive tackles attempt to block him.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out, Micah Parsons has not drawn a holding penalty since the first half of the Dallas Cowboys game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 16. That means it has been nine and a half games, or 38 quarters of football since Parsons has drawn his last holding call.
That seems completely insane and unrealistic for a pass rusher who’s as dominant as Parsons, and the NFL world had a lot to say about it on social media.
One of the more absurd stats I've seen in a while, almost doesn't seem possible. 10 games without a single hold https://t.co/Uhw5l8fTD2
— SportsTalkATL.com (@SportsTalkATL) December 28, 2023
Somebody needs arrested for this!!! https://t.co/gtEz7p9gZE
— Himbo Fisher (@D_Woods21) December 28, 2023
Idk what he did to the officials but this is criminal https://t.co/Vdd4yhUWae
— Steve (@SteveMcCleary) December 28, 2023
And he’s held on almost every play.. https://t.co/j5vAhhZlSu
— Casey Gisclair (@casey_gisclair) December 28, 2023
Absolutely absurd. https://t.co/anajQM6jiA
— RB (@borgs1230) December 28, 2023
Parsons and Garrett get officiated by different rules than other edges.
— Josh (@therealjoshf) December 28, 2023
— Kevin Hegarty (@hags4433) December 28, 2023
Parsons admits that it’s frustrating to battle through so many uncalled holding penalties, but he understands that he just has to play through it.
“Yeah, it’s been long,” Parsons said according to Pro Football Talk. “I can say I’ve been to the quarterback quite a lot in that time. It’s definitely frustrating sometimes, but at the end of the day, I understand it comes with the territory.”
And he’s also not the sort of player to flop to try to draw a penalty, because that could keep him from making a play on the quarterback.
“I’m not flop guy. I’m not a guy that’s going to fake it, because I still believe I can make the play,” Parsons said. “A lot of plays get made above the 2.3 [seconds average for getting to the QB). I’m going to keep moving forward.”
Despite all of this, Parsons currently leads the team with 85 quarterback pressures.
