The Packers’ Closer Saves the Day vs. Cardinals

A career day, in fact.

Parsons had never had three sacks in a game. Parsons had three sacks and 10 pressures. That does not include one sack that was wiped out by a seldom-called hip-drop tackle penalty in the first half.

Each of his sacks were point-saving plays.

His first sack came on a third-and-goal from the 8 on the opening drive. Parsons beat left tackle Paris Johnson to potentially take four points off the board.

His second sack came in the fourth quarter with the game tied 20-20. One third-and-goal from the 10, stormed around right tackle Jonah Williams to potentially take four more points off the board. One play earlier, he ruined a second-down pass with pressure on Brissett. The Cardinals settled for a field goal and a 23-20 lead, which would not hold up after Josh Jacobs’ 1-yard touchdown plunge gave them the lead just after the 2-minute warning.

After winning games on the strength of their offense, Green Bay’s defense had to slam the door shut.

Parsons didn’t have an entrance music like the aforementioned relievers, but he took the field knowing his job.

Slam the door shut.

“Yeah, that’s what we practice for. This is everything that we work on, everything that we said we wanted to be,” Parsons said. “We had our moment, and we just took advantage of it.

“Now it’s just about how can we play a complete four quarters? That second quarter at the end of the half was a little rough by us, unlike is, we’re just glad that we finished stronger this time. So it was kind of flip-flopped. I just want to do a consistent four (quarters).”

It wasn’t a consistent four quarters but it was a winning four quarters. With the Cardinals having a first down from the Packers’ 26, Parsons put on his Superman cape to save the day. Parsons beat Williams again to sack Brissett for a 9-yard loss, taking the Cardinals out of their offensive rhythm.

Two plays later, the game was over after a desperation heave by Brissett went through the back of the end zone.

That was the true definition of wrecking the game.

The defense closed out a gritty, gutsy victory, largely on the shoulders of their closer.

That was Parsons.

There were other plays in the game that were important.

Rashan Gary stripped Jacoby Brissett and changed the trajectory of the game. A fourth-down stand by the defensive front gave the Packers’ offense a chance to win the game.

The reality is none of that would have mattered at all without the brilliance of Parsons.

His three sacks might have taken 14 points off the scoreboard. Four points for each touchdown turned into a field goal, and one on a drive when it looked like the Cardinals were destined to score the winning touchdown. 

The two sacks in the fourth quarter are the plays that Parsons was brought to Green Bay to make.

“Just for me, just understanding everything’s being set up, you know what I mean?” Parsons said. “The rushes, the plan, the looks they’ve been giving me, but when it’s time to win the game, something just switches.

“That’s what we practiced this week. We had a clean 2-minute in practice this week and let’s have a clean 2-minute in the game. The one before half was rough, we’ve got to fix that, but I’m just glad we finished out one at the end of the game.”

Parsons is right, the defense did finish this one out.

Without Parsons, where would the Packers be?

That’s up for debate.

One thing that’s not up for debate is that he’s been worth every pick and every penny.

Sunday’s game in Arizona showed.