PHILADELPHIA — For the past four seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles had to strategically game plan a way to contain Micah parsons when playing the Dallas Cowboys. Those days are long gone.
Parsons won’t be suiting up for the Cowboys on Thursday night, as he was traded to the Green Bay Packers six days before the season opener. A major thorn in the Eagles side won’t resurrect until Week 10, as Parsons will play the Eagles once a year — at most.
Gone is the guarantee Parsons will play Philadelphia twice a season, as he is no longer within the division. Suffice to say one Eagles star isn’t going to miss him.
“Sigh of relief,” said Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata with a smile. “I say that as a joke, but at the same time, it’s just kind of crazy. The last four or five years that we’ve played the Dallas Cowboys, we’ve come up with a game plan because Micah’s a gamer. It is a sigh of relief that you don’t have to plan like that anymore.”
Parsons has had his fair share of success against the Eagles over the years. His 5.0 sacks in seven games against the Eagles are the third most against any opponent (Parsons only has more sacks against the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers). He also has 29 tackles and eight quarterback hits in those seven games against the Eagles.
Even in games Parsons has laid a goose egg in the sack department, his presence was felt throughout the Eagles offensive line. They had to account for where he was at all times.
“When Parsons is out there, you are always aware of where he is and you make sure that you have a plan for him,” said Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert. “Now that he’s gone, they still have great players and they have a scheme that we haven’t seen, so we have to prepare for everything. It’s really about us being on our game and doing what we do.”
The challenge without Parsons
Parsons may not be on the Cowboys defensive front anymore, but the Eagles are still facing a different Cowboys scheme than in years past. New head coach Brian Schottenheimer brought in Matt Eberflus to be his defensive coordinator, and the Cowboys have been scheming their defense all summer without Parsons.
While the Eagles have been game planning with or without Parsons, the Cowboys haven’t had Parsons available all summer.
“That is a talented D-line and a challenging defense. You’ve got to treat them with the same respect, with or without Micah Parsons,” Mailata said. “They’ve got Kenny Clark there. He’s been in the league a long time. He’s a great bloody player.
“So now we’ve got to figure out how he affects our game plan and how we control that.”
Clark was the immediate return Dallas got back in the Parsons trade, along with the two first-round picks in 2026 and 2027. One of the top nose tackles in the NFL for years, the Eagles offensive line saw plenty of Clark last year in the season opener and the Wild Card Playoff game.
While Clark didn’t have a sack, he had seven combined tackles in the two matchups against the Eagles — five in the wild-card playoff loss back in January.
Will the Cowboys still be able to rush the passer after dealing Micah Parsons?
Jared Dubin
“Good player. I mean, he’s been in the league a long time,” Jurgens said. “I’m excited to see him in there. Different guy in the middle. He does a lot of good stuff for them, so it’s just trying to figure out how he fits into that scheme.”
The Eagles are basically getting an unknown commodity when they are facing Eberflus’ defense and how he’ll change things up with the Cowboys. Whether Clark has been there long enough to make an immediate impact remains to be seen, but good bet he can be the best plug-and-play candidate on that defensive line.
“It’s uncharted waters almost,” Mailata said. “You can only go off the DNA they’ve had in the league, and that’s what you have to make your game plan off of.”
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