The Kansas City Chiefs know they have a tall order when it comes to beating the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday just judging by their record at 7-2.
The Cowboys are in first place by a few games in the NFC East and look like they are primed for a deep postseason run in the NFC. Can they make the Super Bowl? That remains to be seen, but they deserve to be mentioned alongside other favorites like the Buccaneers, Packers, and Cardinals.
If the Chiefs are going to maintain their present momentum, they’ve got a few key hurdles they need to clear against a team so talented. Here’s a countdown of a few that will undoubtedly come into play on Sunday afternoon.
Account for Micah Parsons
We’re just over halfway through the regular season, but Micah Parsons is already a runaway pick for the Defensive Rookie of the Year as an immediately imposing threat for the Dallas Cowboys.
Even in a losing effort to the Denver Broncos, a game that no one rooting for America’s Team wants to even think about, Parsons had an incredible game with 2.5 sacks and 3 tackles for a loss. In the week before that, against the Minnesota Vikings, Parsons was even named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week for having 4 tackles for a loss. Yes, that’s a total of seven TFL in just two weeks.
So far this season, Parsons has 20 pressures, 15 quarterback hits and 6 sacks overall and looks like the team’s next great pass rusher. His presence has also made everyone around him better as the Dallas offense has gone from the league’s worst to somewhere in the middle of the pack, depending on the category. Given that the offense can largely score at will, they only need the defense to be average to make a lot of noise. Sound familiar?