The Dallas Cowboys’s defense was significantly better on Thursday than it was the last two weeks, but their 20-15 win over the New York Giants came at a cost. According to Josh Sanchez of Sports Illustrated on Friday, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania suffered a high ankle sprain, and Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence of Aiken, South Carolina sprained his foot. Parsons is expected to be out two to four weeks, and Lawrence is expected to be out one month.
The injuries overshadowed a drastically improved Cowboys’s rush defense performance on Thursday. The last two weeks, Dallas’s rush defense has been downright horrendous. On September 15, they saw Alvin Kamara steamroll past them by rushing for 115 yards in a 44-19 New Orleans Saints win. In all, the Saints had 193 rushing yards as a team and four touchdowns. Then on September, it was Derrick Henry’s turn, as he rushed for 151 rushing yards in a 28-25 Baltimore Ravens win. As a team, the Ravens had 274 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
However, against the Giants in prime time, the Cowboys defensive unit limited New York to only 26 rushing yards and no touchdowns. The Giants only had 1.1 rushing yards per carry. Parsons had two solo tackles and one tackle for a loss before getting injured, while Lawrence had one sack, one quarterback hit, one tackle for a loss, and two combined tackles (one solo tackle and one assisted tackle).
Lawrence is a four-time Pro Bowler, as he was honoured in 2017, 2018, 2022 and 2023. Parsons is a three-time Pro Bowler, and 2021 Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year. With the win, the Cowboys improved to two wins and two losses, and remain in third place in the NFC East.
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