It's not just what Dallas does to create pressure on opposing quarterbacks, equally it's who the Cowboys do it with that makes it one of the best packages in the league.
Coming off a 46-sack season in 2023, the Cowboys opened 2024 against Cleveland with six sacks (including two by defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, one by linebacker Micah Parsons), 25 pressures (nine from Parsons, eight by Lawrence), 17 quarterback hits (five from Parsons, four by Lawrence) and four tackles for loss (three by Lawrence, Parsons had one).
The New Orleans Saints allowed a fraction of that in their season-opening win against Carolina; quarterback Derek Carr was sacked once, the only time the Panthers were credited with a quarterback hit in a 47-10 romp by the Saints.
The offensive line will see a much more formidable pass rush on Sunday, when the Saints play the Cowboys (1-0) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
"I think it's a really good scheme," Saints Coach Dennis Allen said. "They have a really good pressure package, so we'll have to be on point with how we're identifying who's coming, which way the protection is going, all those kinds of things. So that'll be a challenge. And then, when you have a good scheme and you have really good players doing it, it becomes even better.
"You can't double everybody. We can't double team every defensive player in terms of protection or run blocking or anything like that. I think you evaluate their personnel and then you have to make the decisions that you think are best, and sometimes that might make somebody else's job a little bit more difficult. But I think on every play, somebody's gonna have a hard down. And we expect them to be able to do their job."
Few force as many hard downs as Parson, the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021 who has finished third (in '23) and second ('22) in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting the last two seasons.
Parsons last season had 14 sacks, 33 quarterback hits, 18 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery
"Micah Parsons, I think, is a dominant player regardless of position," Allen said. "One of, if not the best, defensive players in our league. He's a guy that we're going to have to pay attention to, (and) understand where he's at."
"He's so fast," Carr said. "He's so fast and powerful, plays extremely hard. He's one of the best players in our game. I think people are talking about him that way, but you turn on the tape and he reminds me of (former Denver Bronco linebacker) Von Miller all those years that me and Von were battling two times a year.
"He really reminds me of Von with that explosiveness, that get-off, his understanding of what they're trying to do to him and those kinds of things. Very, very impressive, and he plays off the ball, too. He can literally play anywhere he wants on a defense. It's really impressive."
Carr said the pressure can't be allowed to change his perspective.
"You're trying as a quarterback to just feel your way in the pocket," Carr said. "But guys like him and DeMarcus, they do a great job of disrupting the pocket, as they did last week against DeShaun (Watson).
"For me, you're just keeping your eyes downfield, make the best read, try and get the ball out on time and all those kinds of things. But if I look down (at the rush), I'm doing my receivers a disservice. So you try your best to keep your eyes up and maybe find a scramble lane, things like that. Try your best to always keep your eyes downfield."
The assist in that department will come from an offensive line that, with three new starters, went through an offseason of questions that weren't quelled by the season-opening performance, but gives the unit something to build on.
"It is one game, and we understand that. But at the same time, that's still one NFL game," Carr said. "They played really well and I was very proud of them, and there's things they want to clean up just like there's things that I want to clean up. But I really was proud of their response.
"We've got a huge challenge this week, with Dallas' front. They're really good, but I have all the confidence in our guys to go out there and compete at a high level. I was really, really proud of them in that first game on how they played.
"It allowed me to go through my reads and go through my progressions and make decisions. It really just allowed me to freely play quarterback and that was fun."
INJURY INS AND OUTS: Safety Tyrann Mathieu (heel) and guard Lucas Patrick (toe) returned to practice Thursday, both limited, as was linebacker Jaylan Ford (hamstring). Left tackle Taliese Fuaga (back) and cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) didn't participate, along with linebacker D'Marco Jackson (calf) and defensive tackle Khalen Saunders (calf). Everyone else practiced full.
