Dallas Cowboys have bigger and more fundamental issues than teams holding Micah Parsons

It’s fashionable, trendy and accurate to point out the lack of holds on Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Parsons has a legitimate beef.

The fact that the league’s best pass rusher has gone 36 quarters, covering nine games over 70 days without drawing a flag for holding, especially with video of evidence of him getting mugged right in front the officials, is mind boggling.

“It’s mind-blowing, the things that are getting called, and the positions that we get put in,” Parsons said after Sunday’s 22-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins. “I know a lot of it is B.S., but it’s the world we live in. We’ve got the star on our helmet. It’s just hard to play defense.”

He also weighed in on social media with a post on Instagram with the caption, “Free me dog, whatever I did the officials I’m sorry!”

Owner Jerry Jones even weighed in his radio show on Tuesday morning. He said Parsons is being held back by the way officials are calling or not calling the games.

“There’s no question that Micah [Parsons] is having restrictions that, if turned loose, would result in a sack of the quarterback,” Jones said.

“They won’t call a holding penalty in a certain range of holding, usually, if they don’t think the player would’ve gotten to the quarterback to begin with. That doesn’t work for Parsons because he’s about to get there almost all the time. Anything that just limits him should be a hold.”

Parsons ranks seventh in the league with 13 sacks and is one away from establishing a new career high. He has joined Hall of Famer Reggie White as the only two NFL players since 1982 with at least 13 sacks in each of their first three seasons.

There is no question that Parsons would have more sacks already if not for being held by the opposing team, thus being held back by the officials.

But is that causing the Cowboys to lose games, especially on that road, where they are now 3-5 following Sunday’s loss in Miami.

Defense end DeMarcus Lawrence complained about having to play against the opposing team, the crowd and the officials.

“It’s football. It’s a game of inches,” Lawrence said. “We definitely take pride in our work and what we display out there on the field, but you can’t control each and every scenario. We have to play against the opposing team, the refs, and a hostile environment. We got everything working against us, we just got to come together as a brotherhood and find a way to get a win.”

The Cowboys can start by controlling what they control and addressing their own woes that are rooted in something more fundamental and much less sinister.

They can’t run the ball. They can’t stop the run.

And they remain among the most undisciplined team in the NFL with with 108 penalties for 910 yards to rank second in the league in both categories.

All three issues have been on full display in back-to-back road losses to the Buffalo Bills and Dolphins.

Buffalo rushed 49 times for 266 yards in a 31-10 blowout.

And while the only gave up 91 yards on the ground against the Dolphins, they couldn’t stop the run and got off the field when they needed to on the final drive of the game, allowing a 12-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a game-winning field goal.

Of course, that they were flagged for face mask to start the drive on exacerbates the issues. It was one of six crucial penalties in the game that set the Cowboys.

The Cowboys rushed for 97 yards against the Dolphins but 52 game from quarterback Dak Prescott (25) and receivers CeeDee Lamb (14), Brandin Cooks (9) and KaVontae Turpin (4).

Running back Tony Pollard has 12 carries for 38 yards. Rico Dowdle had 2 for 4 and fullback Hunter Luepke had 1 for 3, including a crucial fumble on the goal line on the opening drive that proved to be the difference in the game.

And that play came after Pollard couldn’t across the goal line on what seemed to be a walk in score.

The run problems were the same against the Bills as the running backs combined for 15 carries for 59 yards.

And that game also featured three 15-yard penalties that led directly to 21 points.

These the biggest issues holding the Cowboys back.

And if they don’t find answers to at least one, if not all three, against the Detroit Lions (11-4) Saturday it will put them in danger of facing their first three-game losing streak since 2020 while ending their 15-game home winning streak that includes a 7-0 mark at AT&T Stadium in 2023.

The Lions have the league the league’s third-best rushing attack and is playing for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Cowboys need to win out and hope for a loss by the Philadelphia Eagles in the final two games to clinch the NFC East title.

But they need to focus on fixing their owns rather that are holding them back rather than the lack of holding calls against Parsons.