Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys Linebacker Micah Parsons on Historic Pace for NFL Sacks

The second-year player is already setting NFL records

Cowboys' Micah Parsons on historic pace for NFL sacks originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Micah Parsons is a jack of all trades for the Dallas Cowboys’ defense, but he’s become particularly great when it comes to rushing the passer.

The second-year linebacker added two sacks to his total on Sunday against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, giving him 17 sacks for his career. As the numbers show, he’s tackling quarterbacks at a pace the NFL hasn’t seen since the league began recording sacks as an official stat in 1982:

The stat is all the more impressive considering Parsons only had 2.5 sacks through the first seven games of his rookie season. Dallas started embracing Parsons more as a pass-rusher midway through 2021, and the results showed he is already one of the best in the business.

Parsons finished his rookie season with 13 sacks, 20 tackles for loss, 30 QB hits and three forced fumbles. He was the unanimous NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021 and placed second in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting to Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt, who tied the single-season sack record in 2021.

He is already operating at an even more tenacious rate to start 2022. Parsons sacked Tom Brady twice in the Cowboys’ season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and followed that up with two more against the Bengals. He is the only player with four sacks so far this season, with Los Angeles Chargers star Khalil Mack in second with 3.5.

Parsons is already in the mix for more hardware this year. Parsons and Cleveland Browns pass-rusher Myles Garrett are co-NFL Defensive Player of the Year favorites right now with +450 odds, according to our partner, PointsBet.

Looking way down the line, the NFL record for career sacks belongs to Bruce Smith, who accumulated 200 during his 19-year career. If Parsons were to keep up his current pace, it would take him 212 career games to surpass Smith.

Those are obviously lofty expectations, but Parsons has already become accustomed to making history in his young NFL career.

Editor's note: All odds are provided by our partner, PointsBet. PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.

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