Circle the date — Week 4, September 28, AT&T Stadium. Micah Parsons marches into his old home, the Green Bay Packers' home away from home, for a scintillating showdown against the Dallas Cowboys under the primetime lights.
The storylines had already written themselves, but Jerry Jones decided to crank it up a notch and turn this battle into pure cinema. Not content with simply booting his generational pass-rusher out the door at a discount rate, Jones decided to fuel Parsons' revenge game with some free bulletin board material.
Jones first dropped a laughable explanation for trading Parsons by claiming it was a move to help the Cowboys' run defense, but he then revealed his game plan for beating Green Bay in Week 4.
"Micah will be problematic, very problematic. I suggest we get ahead and run the ball," Jones said on how Dallas can defeat the Parsons-led Packers.
Jerry Jones believes the key to beating Micah Parsons' Packers is to run the ball
Jones spoke to reporters for over 45 minutes, and it felt like at least 40 of those were spent talking about how trading Parsons improved the Cowboys' run defense. He then doubled down near the end by claiming the key to beating the Packers was to lean on their ground game.
Noted. Sure, just give Parsons and the Packers some extra fuel. You can guarantee those comments will echo around the visiting locker room before the two teams clash on Sunday Night Football in a little over four weeks.
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Jones ignores the fact that Green Bay's run defense ranked No. 7 in the NFL last season. Kenny Clark played a role in that, of course, as did T.J. Slaton. But they earned the Packers' 20th and 27th PFF run defense grades, respectively. Edgerrin Cooper, Rashan Gary, and Quay Walker were among the Packers' top run defenders.
And even if Jones' game plan were accurate and on point, it makes zero sense to say it publicly.
On second thought, running the ball isn't such a bad idea. The alternative? Watching Parsons prove why the Cowboys made such a mistake letting him leave.
Pure theater. Exactly one month after the Packers and Cowboys collectively stunned the NFL world, they will collide in a stadium where Green Bay has never lost.
Perhaps the Packers' biggest victory over the Cowboys in recent memory just took place at the negotiating table. Jones gave Green Bay a great deal, and he also handed Parsons the extra motivation to make him regret it 188 million times over.