Micah Parsons on Dallas Cowboys vs. Detroit Lions game: 'This is a rivalry'

By the book, the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys aren't rivals. But in the NFL, it doesn't take much for some hard feelings to start brewing.

Last year, the Lions infamously had their successful 2-point conversion attempt that would've given them a one-point lead wiped off the board by a suspect flag for illegal touching when left tackle Taylor Decker caught the go-ahead pass.

Officials were adamant that Decker did not report as eligible despite video evidence that seemed to support the contrary. The Lions were pushed back five yards and ultimately tried to convert the 2-point play two more times because of a subsequent Dallas penalty. But they were unsuccessful, and the Cowboys won the game. It was the kind of finish that makes a team look forward to when they can get revenge.

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Fast forward to Week 6 of the 2024 NFL season, and that opportunity has arrived for the Lions. Dan Campbell's squad largely didn't take the bait this week leading up to the showdown in Arlington, Texas, but Cowboys star defensive end Micah Parsons wasn't so careful in declaring this a big game.

"This is a rivalry," Parsons said this week on his podcast "The Edge with Micah Parsons." "The Cowboys definitely got their hands full, man. This is a great team. This is a great team. Obviously went to the NFC championship game last year, they've been accomplishing so many great things so far. Dan Campbell is definitely looking for his look back. You kind of saw his frustration.

"I think what makes them a tough team is obviously a great run game with Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs, I mean thunder and lightning. (Amon-Ra) St. Brown is about as explosive and shifty as good of a receiver as it can get. (Jared) Goff, from his situation in L.A., it's been night and day how good he's been in his career and obviously Aidan Hutchinson is playing at a defensive player of the year level right now."

While Parsons hyped up the rivalry by focusing on the positives with the Lions, you can bet at least one of his teammates is looking at things through a different lens.

Former Michigan cornerback Jourdan Lewis is never afraid to shy away from some conflict. Not last year, and not this week.

As Our Man Rainer Sabin chronicled this week, St. Brown went on his podcast in the summer and called out Lewis for his trash-talking.

“He was talking crazy,” St. Brown said on “The Pivot Podcast, ” released in July. “Some (stuff) I’ve never heard.”

Lewis didn't take kindly to St. Brown's remarks on the podcast.

“I just remember him going on a podcast trying to air me out,” Lewis told reporters. “We're going to play each other, so we're going to see each other and we're going to have a game together. We're going to see what's real and what's not."

Parsons and Lewis have been taking a different approach to the new "rivalry" this week, but it seems safe to say there's no love lost between these two teams.

After missing last week's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Parsons' availability for the game this week seems to be in doubt, though he hasn't been ruled out.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Micah Parsons on Dallas Cowboys vs. Detroit Lions game: 'This is a rivalry'