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By Robert Marvi
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Green Bay Packers are off to an excellent start this season. They blasted the Detroit Lions, 27-13, in Week 1, and on Thursday, coming off a short rest period, they downed the Washington Commanders, 27-18.
Micah Parsons, their new superstar edge rusher, whom they acquired from the Dallas Cowboys two weeks ago, has taken their defense up a level. In two games with them, he has had 1.5 sacks, and he has given Green Bay a margin for error it didn't have in the past.
A mural of Parsons in a Packers uniform has gone up, and depicts him next to a picture of Jerry Jones, the polarizing Cowboys owner, crying along with the words "Thanks Jerry!"
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Parsons, who spent his first four seasons in Dallas, had been asking for a lucrative contract extension. But the Cowboys, who gave out big extensions to wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott, couldn't come to terms with him on a new deal, which led to Jones receiving plenty of criticism.
It perhaps wasn't a huge shock that Parsons ended up getting traded. But it was shocking that Dallas not only traded him within its own conference but to a rising team like the Packers that was a player such as Parsons away from Super Bowl contention.
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The Packers, who had been the darlings of the national media last summer after coming within minutes of an NFC Championship Game appearance the previous season, lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs to the Philadelphia Eagles last season.
The biggest thing they needed to rise to the next level was pass rushing, and now they have arguably the best player to provide just that.
Not only is Parsons a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but he's 26 years of age, which means he can provide the Packers with several more years of Pro Bowl-level play.
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Meanwhile, the Cowboys are coming off a Week 1 loss to the Eagles, and their immediate future is looking murky. While they have two legitimate offensive threats in Lamb and wideout George Pickens, their running game is still lackluster, and they lack pass-rushing.
They not only traded away Parsons, but they also lost defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency to the Seattle Seahawks. After leaving, Lawrence then added insult to injury by saying there was no way he would've won a Super Bowl championship with the Cowboys.
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