'Run at Me! We Comin'!' Micah Parsons' Cowboys Reveal New Key to Being 'Special'

Complementary football is something that has been preached all offseason for the Dallas Cowboys, and through two weeks of the NFL season, it has paid off in devastating fashion.

With the defense, led by Micah Parsons, suffocating opposing offenses, and Dak Prescott and Company putting up points while not turning the ball over, it's an effective way to stack wins.

Such has been the way that the Cowboys have swept aside both the New York Giants and the New York Jets in consecutive weeks, Dallas looks to be a juggernaut that will take some stopping. Of course, the season is only two weeks old, but the film put out will cause teams to have sleepless nights.

For Parsons, after two dominating performances, he knows how special this version of the Cowboys is, and for those who don't know it, they will soon enough.

"When you're playing balanced football from offense to defense to special teams, it's extremely fun," Parsons said. "We're having so much fun with this group. It's a special group, and I don't think people know just how special it is yet."

Parsons talks about "balanced" football, and Dallas has done an excellent job of maintaining that balance in the first two weeks of the season. But maybe a centerpiece of the success is having turned a weakness into a strength.

Coming into the year, the run defense was a long-standing concern. But now? In this game, Breece Hall had nine yards on four carries. Dalvin Cook had seven yards on four carries.

“This offseason, Micah said, "we committed. We said, ‘We’re going to make these guys pass the ball. We’re going to force them to let us rush.’ When we come out and come down and set the tone and say, ‘You won’t run on us,’ and then we go get our sacks, now that’s what changes everything.

“So, to all the teams with them game plans, run at me. Run at whoever. We comin’.”

Quarterback Dak Prescott was asked what complementary football means to him, and he was pointed in his answer.

"Winning," he said."Simple, winning."

Much of the off-season talk has been about Dak and his interceptions last season. While Dak did lead the league in interceptions (15), the "It's in his DNA crowd" has been eerily silent in the opening two weeks as the "balanced football" has taken center stage.

With Dak not turning the ball over, the Cowboys dominated time in possession against the Jets (42:15 to 17:45) as he didn't force things down the field and, often, simply took what the defense offered him.

Putting that into context, the Cowboys' offense had five drives of 12-plus plays, and none lasted less than 5:20. Conversely, the Jets had 11 possessions, and nine of them lasted 2:16 or less. New York's most extended possession was a 7-play drive that took 4:37 off the clock and ended in a punt.

By Dallas keeping the chains moving, the much-talked-about Jets defense was on the field for extended periods and, ultimately, the physical toll of being on the field for so long proved too much.

For coach Mike McCarthy, controlling the ball meant controlling the game, and he was proud of how the offense was able to execute the game plan.

“Going in, we felt like we needed to control the ball,” McCarthy said. “The guys did a great job of executing the plan. I think we were plus-20 minutes in time of possession at halftime. [We] took good care of the ball, but you know, that’s complementary football. That was the outlook going in, and our players did an excellent job.”

With all three phases playing complementary football, it has led to two superb results that get the Cowboys' season off to a great start.

Parsons thinks this team is "special," and based on what we have seen in the opening two weeks as the Cowboys' complementary football has taken center stage, it has the potential to be.

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