Packer Central

Who Was MVP of Packers’ Victory Over Cardinals? 

In the Green Bay Packers’ victory over the Arizona Cardinals, it was the player who was the talk of the preseason who stepped up in crunch time and helped bring home the 27-23 win. 
Jacob Slinkman|
Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) pursues Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) pursues Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

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There are only two players in the NFL who have three or more sacks in a game this season. One of them is Micah Parsons, who delivered a big-time performance to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

“Man, it’s amazing,” quarterback Jordan Love said about Parsons. “I can’t state enough how fun it is just to have him on this team, and how much of a playmaker he is in big situations like that. Having three sacks on the day is big-time.

“You can’t say enough how much of a playmaker he is, and I think everybody on that defense – the D-line, RG’s (Rashan Gary) doing his thing, other guys making big-time plays. So, it’s one of those games where we’re just trying to keep finding ways to be as complementary as possible and keep finding ways to stack it. It never gets old winning, so we’ve just got to keep finding ways to keep going.” 

Parsons, who was given a game ball by coach Matt LaFleur and earned our weekly MVP honors, had one of the best games by any defensive player this season, finishing with five tackles, four of which were for losses, three sacks, 10 pressures and five quarterback hits. It was the first three-sack game of his career between college and the NFL. 

Parsons stepped up in the clutch. His first and second sacks of Jacoby Brissett came on third down in the red zone, limiting the Cardinals to field goals instead of touchdowns.

His third sack was the biggest, coming with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game and the Cardinals were nearing the red zone. It pushed them back from the 26-yard line to the 35. After Brissett scrambled for 8 on second down, third-and-long and fourth-and-long passes were incomplete, sealing the win for the Packers. 

“Just understanding everything’s being set up, you know what I mean,” Parsons said. “The rushes, the plan, the looks they’ve been giving me but, when it’s time to win the game, something just switches.

“That’s what we practiced this week. We had a clean 2-minute in practice this week and let’s have a clean 2-minute in the game. The one before half was rough, we’ve got to fix that, but I’m just glad we finished out one at the end of the game.” 

Parsons’ production against the Cardinals may end up hurting him in the long run. Until Sunday, he had been seeing a lot of double- and even triple-teams, slides from the offensive line to his side, and chips from tight ends and running backs. That resulted in only 2.5 sacks in five games. He is now tied with Rashan Gary for the team lead in sacks with 5.5 after Gary had one of his own. 

The Cardinals mostly asked their offensive tackles to handle Parsons one-on-one. Parsons beat standout left tackle Paris Johnson for one sack and routinely had his way with right tackle Jonah Williams.

“I just think it’s the first time they allowed me to rush this year,” Parsons said. “If you look at the looks I’ve been getting – double tight ends, chips, full slides – and then also just other guys stepping up. Colby (Wooden) stepping up big time inside, things like that, opening it up a little bit for me and I just take advantage of it.” 

After showing what he can do when he is finally let loose without double teams, Parsons may not see a one-on-one for the rest of the season.

“There were some moments that it surprised me, too,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of the Cardinals’ approach.

With the return of defensive Devonte Wyatt coming soon, there should be more pressure up the middle, giving more opportunities to Parsons and Gary on the outside. 

Parsons is tied for sixth in the NFL in sacks with Gary and two others. Of 62 edge rushers with at least 125 pass-rushing opportunities, Parsons was second in pass-rush win rate and second in pressures ahead of Monday night’s games, according to Pro Football Focus.

On top of Parsons’ career game, Quay Walker added a career-high 1.5 sacks, three quarterback hits and five pressures. After a quiet couple games, Gary’s sack produced the Packers’ first forced fumble of the season, which Evan Williams recovered. Gary added two quarterback hits and four pressures. 

The Packers finished with six sacks, nine tackles for losses, four passes defensed and 12 QB hits. PFF credited the Packers with 28 pressures, their second-most of the season, in what turned out to be a full team effort alongside Parsons’ great individual performance. 

The offense had a good game, as well. After being outscored in the first half for just the second time this season, they outscored the Cardinals 21-10 in the second half, including 14-3 in the fourth quarter. Green Bay is No. 1 in the NFL in fourth-quarter scoring.

Love ended the game with just 179 passing yards and one touchdown, but the lone touchdown came early in the fourth quarter and tied the game. Tucker Kraft was on the receiving end of that touchdown pass and finished the game with five catches for 58 yards. One of his catches came on fourth down on the Packers’ final touchdown drive, allowing the drive to continue and setting Josh Jacobs up to take the lead late in the game. 

Playing hurt, Jacobs had his third consecutive game with multiple touchdowns, the second of which was to take the lead with less than 2 minutes remaining. He had a season-low 13 carries due to a calf strain that almost kept him from playing, so he ended up with only 55 rushing yards. 

Romeo Doubs led the team in receiving with six receptions for 72 yards. He leads the team with 24 receptions and is 20 yards behind Kraft for the team lead in receiving yards.  

Kicker Lucas Havrisik, who filled in for the injured Brandon McManus for the second week in a row, has yet to miss a kick for the Packers and earned a game ball for the second consecutive week by setting a franchise record with a 61-yard field goal to end the first half. 

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Jacob Slinkman
JACOB SLINKMAN

I am a senior at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay studying communication with emphasis in sports, journalism and social media. I’ve been around sports for my entire life. My family has been watching football and baseball for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I tried nearly every sport I could. I grew up in Winona, Minn., and living there meant I had to try my hand at hockey, but the only sport that ever stuck with me full time was baseball, which I played from t-ball through high school. Sports are very important to me, so I always wanted to work in this industry, and my time in college has given me the opportunity to write stories and produce videos about UWGB’s athletic teams. I have been writing for The Fourth Estate, UWGB’s student newspaper, for two years, and I will be taking on the role of student editor for my senior year.