'Excited for the challenge': Cowboys' Parsons sets sights on first meeting with Alvin Kamara in Week 2 bout

The revamped 2024 Cowboys defense was officially unveiled on Sunday, and they performed very well overall under their new defensive coordinator. But Mike Zimmer’s frontal attack will face a different kind of beast in Week 2.

Saints star Alvin Kamara finished among the league’s top 10 running backs last week with 85 yards, notching an impressive 5.5 yards per carry that will test a Cowboys’ run-stop unit that was the defense’s weak spot last season under Dan Quinn.

Putting the clamps on Kamara will be no small task, but it will likely be a significant key to the Cowboys’ success in their home opener.

Defensive multi-tool Micah Parsons is already looking forward to the battle.

“He’s still one of the best backs in this league,” Parsons told reporters this week. “I’m excited for the challenge. It’ll be my first time going against the guy.”

Kamara has been a force ever since entering the league as a third-round draft pick. He was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2017 and was voted to five straight Pro Bowls.

But Father Time may be starting to gain ground on the 29-year-old. Kamara had a career-low 694 rushing yards last year (though it should be noted he played in just 13 games). And he hasn’t hit 100 rushing yards in a contest since the 2022 season finale.

Quarterback Derek Carr played lights-out as New Orleans rolled to a 47-10 home win over the Panthers, having nearly as many touchdown throws (three) as incompletions (four) on the day. But Zimmer knows the Saints’ offensive game plan can turn on a dime and go through Kamara on a moment’s notice.

“We’re going to have to figure out a way,” Zimmer said Monday. “I don’t know yet; I’ve only watched a couple games on him so far. But they’re doing a nice job. Klint Kubiak’s the offensive coordinator there; he was with me in Minnesota. It’ll be a great challenge. They had a heck of a game last week.”

Dallas did, too, and they’ll be looking to improve on a defensive effort that held the Browns collectively to 93 rushing yards, with mobile quarterback Deshaun Watson accounting for 41% of that total. (Carr is not the same kind of threat on the ground.)

Parsons was instrumental in that Week 1 showing, becoming a semi-permanent fixture in the Cleveland backfield. He finished the afternoon with four tackles, one TFL, a sack, and five QB hits.

Perhaps even more indicative of Parsons’s impact, however, were the 18 combined tackles made by fellow linebackers Eric Kendricks and DeMarvion Overshown. That’s the direct result of the Browns offense using extra personnel to chip Parsons as often as possible, taking precious blocking resources away from the other Dallas defenders.

He managed to get his nevertheless.

On the Fox broadcast, Tom Brady noted that Parsons “got a chip and beat it” on his sack at the end of the first quarter.

“This guy deals with more double teams,” Brady said, per a post on X from Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports, “This is what you deal with when you’re a great rusher.”

Parsons says it’s become his new normal.

“I think I’m in that realm now where I’m always preparing for that double team,” he said. “It’s almost expected at this point. I don’t think anyone in the league is going to leave me one-on-one.”

Zimmer recognized the tactic as it was happening in Cleveland. But by Wednesday morning when Parsons reported to The Star, the veteran coordinator had already drawn up a new package to help combat the chipping moving forward and find more one-on-one opportunities for the Defensive Player of the Year hopeful.

Parsons knows this week will provide a good early-season test, and a different kind from the Browns. But he’s aware the Saints could also offer a more representative preview of what other teams will try to throw- or, more accurately, run– at the Cowboys defense all year long.

And maybe even beyond.

“That run game, always,” Parsons mused of the New Orleans attack. “This is a great system. Their OC came from San Fran, so it gives us a glimpse of what we potentially could see later on down the road.”

Don’t look past Kamara and the Saints, though. Parsons, Zimmer, and the Dallas defense sure aren’t.