Parsons of interest: Giants' O-line can't let Cowboys sack artist get edge

The Giants’ offensive line would like to have a mostly clean game in Sunday night’s opener against the Cowboys. No line is perfect, though. And few can prevent the best pass rushers in the NFL from getting theirs at some point during a game.

But the offensive line, capably coached by Bobby Johnson, will have a clear mission: It can’t let Micah Parsons beat them.

Parsons, who has 26 1⁄2 sacks in his first two seasons, has grown under Dan Quinn’s tutelage in Dallas. To opposing offensive lines, he is a menace.

He’s now a pass rusher first and foremost with Dallas realizing he is better as the hunter. This game represents his first with that designation. It will be interesting to see how Parsons, who has studied the game’s greats, has acclimated to the change.

In Dallas, he has become a leader.

Parsons talks about being ready to shepherd teammates “into deep water.”

“You have to be prepared for every moment,” he recently told reporters in Dallas. “Sleeping on it, dreaming about it. Your preparation, your work ethic, your mindset. Everything goes into that.”

He has fostered change in the Cowboys.

Consider: In 2020, before Parsons’ arrival, the Cowboys’ defense allowed 386.4 yards and 29.6 points per game. That ranked 23rd.

Compare that to the numbers of the 2022 defense: 330.2 yards and 20.1 points per game. That ranked 12th.

And yes, Parsons would say there is still room for improvement there.

A first-team All-Pro in each of his first two seasons, he has lofty goals.

“I’m trying to be on that Ray Lewis defense,” Parsons told “The Pivot” podcast. “I’m trying to hold teams under 10 points. [If opponents] don’t score 10 points, we win the game. We gotta hold teams under 10 points.”

This is the type of chatter that Parsons likes. He believes in speaking his truth into existence. He has never been shy when it comes to expectations or challenging himself and his team to live up to them. He says it because he believes it.

In his final college game for Penn State, the 2021 Cotton Bowl versus Memphis, Parsons, an ESPN and Associated Press first-team All-American, was a marvel. He had a game-high 14 tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry that led to a Penn State pick-6. He was named the game’s outstanding defensive player.

These days, the Giants hope second-year defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux becomes their next dominant edge rusher. But Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale described comparisons between Parsons and Thibodeaux as unfair.

“I mean, I think they both have a lot of things they do really well,” Martindale said. “Some different things that some do better than others and vice versa, but I like Kayvon. Just who he is and what he does for this defense. He brings so much flexibility to the defense.

“People don’t really understand that he does everything. It’s like we have talked about before, say there is 700 plays, you are going to like 650 of them and not talk about the 10 sacks or eight sacks or 9 1⁄2 sacks, whatever number gets placed on him because that’s just a blip on the radar screen for everything else that he does.”

As for Thibodeaux, he said he is trying to reach Parsons’ level.

“I think when you look at the raw numbers, he’s been able to do a lot of great things,” Thibodeaux said. “I’m trying to emulate that. He’s been able to succeed early, which is great. Yeah, I’ll let you guys do the comparing and me, I’m just trying to keep striving and keep continuing to try to do what he’s been able to do.’’

By Kimberly Jones

kimberly.jones@newsday.comkimjonessports

Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.