Micah Parsons went without a sack for the first time in almost a month, but he still made a significant impact on the game during the Green Bay Packers' thrilling victory over the Chicago Bears.
But he's not satisfied with just the win. Parsons knows Round II is only a fortnight away, and it'll be at Soldier Field under the bright lights. Moments after the game, Parsons sent a message intended for the desk of Caleb Williams.
"When someone's just running boot and running all game, it's no fun for rushers. But I'm not going to lie: I'm going to get him," Parsons told NFL Network following the game.
He wasn't done. Parsons met with reporters in the locker room, revealing what he told Williams during the game.
"I just let him know, you're not going around me," Parsons said, via Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "And I held to that the whole game. He did not beat me to that (edge), not one time. I kind of hold that with passion. If you're going to run the boot(leg), run it the other way."
Micah Parsons sends a message to Caleb Williams while also subtly jabbing the Bears' game plan
He's right. The Bears opted for a run-heavy approach, particularly in the second half, and when Williams did drop back to pass, he rarely threw from the pocket. Whether on designed roll-outs to cool the pass rush or simply because Williams scrambled, it was a rare sight to see him stand in the pocket and make a throw.
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It's a tough task for any defense to chase down Williams when he gets moving, but Parsons is right. At no point did the 2024 first-overall pick get away from him. On one play, Williams attempted to outrun Parsons to the edge, but the Packers' $188 million pass-rusher surprised Williams with his speed, shutting down the angle and forcing him to throw the ball away.
It's going to take another monumental effort when the teams meet for the second act in two weeks.
Ben Johnson understood how to attack the Packers, leaning on the rushing attack while using a mix of motion to stretch them horizontally. They moved the pocket, went heavy on play-action, and aimed to blunt the Packers' biggest weapon.
It worked, to a point, but PFF still had Parsons at seven pressures, while the Packers sacked Williams once and hit him six times. The pressure still impacted his game. Parsons barely missed a potential sack, but in the process of Williams stepping up to avoid him, he walked straight into a sack from Kingsley Enagbare.
Williams just stayed out of Parsons' grasp, but the Packers' all-world pass-rusher has made it clear he'll get him in two weeks.