Last August, the Green Bay Packers acquired defensive superstar Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys for a pair of first round draft choices and Kenny Clark. The trade elevated the Packers Super Bowl prospects while bolstering their defense with one of the best pass rushers in the game.
The Packers were locked in a competitive race to the playoffs in the talented NFC North Division when in a game against the Denver Broncos in December Parsons went down with a torn ACL and meniscus damage. Two weeks later, on December 29, he underwent surgery and hasn’t seen any game action since. He remains weeks away from making his first game appearance this season.
So, how important was Parsons to the Packers?
They lost the game to Denver when he was first injured. Lost the following week to the Chicago Bears in a contest that went a long way in determining the winner of the NFC North Division. The Packers dropped their final two regular season games and were knocked out of the playoffs in their opening postseason game against Chicago.
In other words, in the five games since Parsons was injured, the Packers lost while their depleted defense allowed 144 points. That is nearly 29 points a game surrendered while Parsons is out of action.
The NFL is spreading this week’s preseason schedule over four days. A pair of games on Thursday, three on Friday and one on Sunday after a ten-game schedule on Saturday. One of the Friday games have the Packers in Denver to meet the same team that they were playing when Parsons suffered his severe injury.