Without pass rusher Micah Parsons on the field, the Green Bay Packers’ sack percentage is cut in half.
The worst-case scenario happened for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and it had nothing to do with the result against the Denver Broncos.
While chasing after Bo Nix in the third quarter, superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons suffered a non-contact knee injury, immediately going to the ground in pain. While there has been no confirmation as to what the injury was, it seemed clear by the reaction from Parsons that he knew what the injury was, presumably a torn ACL, given the league’s history of non-contact knee injuries.
Parsons wasn’t the only major injury in this game. Christian Watson suffered a chest injury that quickly ruled him out, while Zach Tom suffered a knee injury shortly before halftime. Evan ascending star safety Evan Williams exited the game with a knee injury, while Josh Whyle was quickly ruled out in the first half with a concussion.
However, none of those injuries compares to the loss of Parsons, potentially for the rest of this season and beyond.
Parsons had been the driving force of Jeff Hafley’s defense, generating 12.5 sacks and 70 pressures, putting him near the top of the league in both categories. He even had a pair of forced fumbles, including a crucial one early in Sunday’s contest that flipped possession on Denver’s opening drive.
It’s not just that the Packers will be losing a top-tier pass rusher, but the fact that their defense has been heavily leaning on that pass-rush production all season.
With Devonte Wyatt done for the year, only one other player on Green Bay’s current roster has more than 2.0 sacks this year, and that’s Rashan Gary, who has seemingly disappeared after a strong start to the season. Not only has he not had a sack since October 26 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and according to Pro Football Focus, has averaged less than three pressures a game in the seven games since.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Packers are (not surprisingly) significantly worse at rushing the passer with Parsons off the field.
- Parsons On-Field: 38.4% pressure rate, 7.3% sack rate, 2.71 seconds time to pressure
- Parsons Off-Field: 36.6% pressure rate, 4.0% sack rate, 3.04 seconds time to pressure
There are few answers for Green Bay the rest of the way, but the No. 1 thing that could give the Packers’ pass rush a spark is a resurgence from Gary. Unfortunately, stamina seems to be a major issue with him, and there have been multiple games this season where he’s been out-snapped by Kingsley Enagbare.
If there was one player the Packers couldn’t afford to lose, it was Micah Parsons. But that’s exactly what happened against the Broncos, and it’s an injury so severe that it could alter the history of the franchise.
Category: General Sports
