Just on Sunday, against Carolina Panthers, defensive end Micah Parson had one of the best performances of his career, recording 2.5 sacks to reach 10 this season for the third year in a row. Despite this, the Dallas Cowboys star attacked the fragility of current quarterbacks.
In his weekly podcast, Parsons complained about how the rules and referees favor offensive players, hindering and penalizing the work of defensive players.
Parsons joined a group of NFL stars and former stars who have recently spoken out against what they perceive as a decline in the level of play in the league.
Personalities like Tom Brady said there is a lot of mediocrity among offensive players because of how they protect themselves. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers considered that the rule changes have hurt the defense’s performance.
Parsons agrees with Brady
In his comment on Bleacher Report, Parsons agreed with Brady by saying “You look at today’s NFL with a lot of QBs flopping on hits. You’re looking at guys who are kind of flailing, they hit them hard, they lead with their shoulders, and it looks like it’s a helmet-to-helmet.”
“I just don’t think it’s the same love and protection toward defensive players, at that. I 100% agree with Tom, I think there are players, and there are teams that take advantage of these rules,” Parsons stated.
He agreed with trying to eliminate blindside hitting but also lamented that “there’s a lot of things, a lot of hits that you can’t make – you can’t leave your feet when you’re making a hit.”
But he also agreed with Rodgers
However, he also agreed with the New York Jets quarterback since “The league has (gone) more offensive. I don’t think that the league is trending the right way. It’s outright ridiculous like you either can hit the guy or you can’t.”
He sent a message to the referees and the NFL by reminding them that “You’re playing football at full speed, not 50%. You’re playing football to hit the other team and get your team in the best position to win.”
He explained that defenders feel they have to be careful not to be fined for a hit considered illegal. “They get fined $40,000, they’re trying to protect these guys,” he lamented.
