At some point Sunday, Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had to feel like he was trying to cross the highway in rush hour traffic.
The Dallas Cowboys defense came at him in relentless waves.
And while Watson dodged a few cars, he was sacked six times and it could have been more, if not for his size and mobility.
He simply had no choice against a relentless, athletic and fast Cowboys defense which made a statement in his first outing under new coordinator Mike Zimmer and was the star of the show in the Cowboys’ 33-17 victory in Sunday’s season opener.
All-Pro Micah Parsons led the way with nine quarterback hits and a sack. Veteran defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence had two sacks. Free agent linebacker Eric Kendricks had 10 tackles, two sacks and an interception.
Second-year linebacker DeMarvion Overshown had 11 tackles and sack after missing last season with a torn ACL. He was a blur running sideline to sideline alongside Parsons.
And All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs had an interception in his first game back from a torn ACL that sidelined him three games into 2023.
“We have those rotational pieces and obviously we draft it pretty well, so it looks good and it helps that we can rotate when you’re tired and things like that,” said Parsons of the Cowboys coming a Watson in waves. “Man, I feel like we could have done more to anybody else.
“Deshaun’s tough. He’s a tough quarterback, bro. He’s hard to get down. He’s scrappy, he’s relentless. He kept getting up, man [but] it was challenging for Cleveland to really dial into the offense.”
The only thing that slowed the Cowboys defense was exhaustion and cramps. Kendricks had to leave the game for dehydration in the fourth quarter.
“I just thought that they set the tone with the production. Takeaways, all those things. I thought they got off to a nice start,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “We were gassed there at the end, so that’s something that we’ll take a look at for rotations and things like that. You have to go get that first one in.”
And let the Cowboys tell it, this was just the beginning for the defense, which has been remade under Zimmer.
They were so dominant they didn’t use everything against the Browns.
“That was a little sample,” Diggs said. “We got 50 calls. We only ran three of them.”
Job No. 1 was stopping the run, a weakness of the Cowboys defense under previous coordinator Dan Quinn.
The Browns had 93 yards on the ground with Watson accounting for 39 yards on scrambles for his life.
And once they got the done, they went after Watson.
The Browns had just one first down in the first half and just 54 yard totals in the first two quarters.
“Zimmer was cooking,” Lawrence said. “The whole defense felt it. I’m happy we got Zimmer in our corner.”
The Browns game offered a glimpse of how Zimmer is going to use Parsons all over the defense. He lined up in a number of different spots.
And while Parsons didn’t lead the Cowboys in sacks, he set the tone with his pressures and quarterbacks hits. He knows he could have done more.
“Zim was in everybody’s head (Sunday),” Parsons said. “I think he has that type of fear factor, that type of respect. You want to play for that guy, man. He’s just such a good dude. I have a lot of respect for him.”
“I think I missed two or three [sacks],” Parsons added. “I’m going to have nightmares tonight for sure. I’m supposed to start this year off with [three sacks]. … I don’t think I played to my standard. I’ve gotta finish those plays..”
This was just the beginning for Parsons and the Cowboys defense under Zimmer.
Even better days are ahead.
“We didn’t even open up the full bag,” Parsons said. “For a lot of us, it was our first game since the playoff loss (in January). We’re just getting back into it, tackling people again, getting to that full contact game plan. I just think the sky is the limit. This is just the beginning.”
