The Pittsburgh Steelers might have caught a break last Thursday with no Trey Hendrickson for the Cincinnati Bengals, but they won’t have any such in their Week 8 matchup with the Green Bay Packers.
Hosting the Packers for a huge Sunday Night Football matchup that sees quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ old team ride into town for a pivotal matchup, the Steelers will find themselves with their hands full trying to protect Rodgers against another elite pass rusher, this time in Micah Parsons.
Parsons is coming off of a three-sack performance in Green Bay’s Week 7 win over the Arizona Cardinals, while the Steelers haven’t allowed a sack of Rodgers in two weeks. Something has to give.
For former NFL head coach and current NBC analyst Jason Garrett, the Steelers will need to make sure they have 2-3 guys on Parsons at all times Sunday night, mirroring the plan the Steelers had that was so successful against Cleveland’s Myles Garrett in Week 6.
“Green Bay’s been winning, but they’ve certainly been winning ugly and there’s no doubt that guy you mentioned Micah Parsons, three sacks last week against Arizona, he’s making his impact,” Garrett said of Parsons, according to video via Football Night In America on YouTube. “If you’re Pittsburgh, you better put two and three guys on him or else he’s gonna wreck the game.”
Since coming over to the Packers in a shocking blockbuster trade just days before the start of the 2025 season from the Dallas Cowboys, Parsons has been finding his way in a new city and with a new franchise. Prior to Week 7, Parsons had just 2.5 sacks on the season. However, he did have 29 pressures, including 10 in the Week 4 matchup against his old team in the Cowboys.
Then, on Sunday he broke out in a huge way with three sacks, including one with under 30 seconds left in the game, taking down Jacoby Brissett to seal the win for the Packers.
Now, with some confidence after a dominant showing, Parsons turns his attention to Pittsburgh, a team he hasn’t faced yet, missing the Week 5 SNF game between the Steelers and Cowboys last season.
He’ll be a tough opponent to deal with for the Steelers. He’s not just a stationary target, either. The Packers move Parsons around, giving him different looks at rushing the quarterback. According to Pro Football Focus, Parsons has lined up on the left side of the defense in 121 snaps, and on the right side 148 snaps.
So, the Steelers will have to have a plan. They can’t just plan on rolling away from Parsons like they did with Garrett in Week 6 to protect Rodgers. What they can do though is make sure there’s a chip or an extra tight end on whatever side Parsons is pre-snap in an effort to try and slow him down.
Both Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu will have a tough task ahead on Sunday night. It’s not just Parsons, either. The likes of Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness are no slouches. Gary has 5.5 sacks on the season, while Van Ness has 1.5 sacks and has generated 16 pressures.
All the focus will need to be on Parsons though. He’s a game changer, a future Hall of Famer. They’ll have to have a plan for him.
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