Tag Archives: Micah Parsons

11.17.21
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Penn Staters At The Next Level: Week 10

This week is all defense in our Penn Staters At The Next Level recap.

We start off with Micah Parsons, of course. The Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite continues a stellar start to his NFL career.

Parsons led the Cowboys with six tackles and also recorded a strip-sack.

Adrian Amos, Safety, Green Bay Packers

Photo by Steve Manuel/The Football Letter

Aaron Rodgers’ return to the field garnered most of the pre-game headlines, but the play of the Packers defense stole the show in Sunday’s win over the Seahawks.

Adrian Amos and his teammates shutout the Seattle offense in a 17-0 win, with the former Nittany Lion grabbing his second interception of the season. Amos also finished with four tackles and three pass deflections.

The Green Bay defense has quickly developed into one of the league’s best this season under first-year coordinator Joe Barry.

Amani Oruwariye, Cornerback, Detroit Lions

Photo by Steve Manuel/The Football Letter

It seemed like nobody wanted to win Sunday’s matchup between the Lions and Steelers, with turnovers, mistakes and penalties the story of the game.

As a result, nobody did win. Pittsburgh and Detroit played to a 16-16 tie after a pretty wild overtime finish.

Amani Oruwariye helped the Lions avoid the loss column for the first time this season, finishing with seven tackles, two pass deflections and a critical fumble recovery in overtime.

11.11.21
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Penn Staters At The Next Level: Week Nine

Hard to believe we’re already through the halfway point of the NFL season. Nine weeks down and nine to go.

It was a quiet start to Pat Freiermuth’s NFL career, but the rookie has officially entered the spotlight for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Freiermuth is quickly becoming a fan-favorite in the Steel City.

“MUUUUUUUTH,” as Steelers fans have dubbed Pat in the mold of “HEEEEEEATH” for former tight end Heath Miller, caught two touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s Monday Night victory over the Bears.

Freiermuth is now tied with Falcons star Kyle Pitts as the two highest-rated rookie tight ends in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Pretty, pretty good.

Mike Gesicki, Tight End, Miami Dolphins

Welcome back to the win column, Dolphins fans. Miami snapped a seven-game losing streak on Sunday by topping the Houston Texans, 17-9.

Mike Gesicki made some spectacular grabs in the Miami win. Despite all the struggles for the Dolphins this season, Gesicki has been a constant bright spot. He leads the team with 529 receiving yards on the season.

Micah Parsons, Linebacker, Dallas Cowboys

While Micah Parsons hasn’t appeared on our countdown each week, it certainly seems like he has.

Dallas’ six-game winning streak came to an end in a 30-16 loss to the Denver Broncos, but Parsons shined once more. He led the Cowboys with 10 tackles while also recording 2.5 sacks.

If he’s not the NFC Defensive Rookie of The Year, it will be an outrage.

10.13.21
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Penn Staters At The Next Level: Week Five

I’m going to start this week’s Penn Staters At The Next Level post with a punter. Blake Gillikin continues his terrific start to the 2021 season.

The former Nittany Lion was dominant — yes, punters can dominate — in the Saints win over the Washington Football Team.

Gillikin booted five punts for 268 yards, including three that were downed inside the five. On the season, he’s averaging 49.8 yards per punt, which is tied for fourth-best in the NFL.

Nick Scott, Safety, Los Angeles Rams

Photo by Steve Manuel/The Football Letter

Nothing like a game-winning interception to defeat your NFC West rivals in primetime.

Nick Scott sealed a win for the Rams on Thursday Night Football this past week with his first career INT.

He’s made his name on special teams the past two seasons, but Scott has also now found a nice role within the Rams defense in 2021.

Micah Parsons, Linebacker, Dallas Cowboys

Photo by Steve Manuel/The Football Letter

Another week, another appearance for Micah Parsons in this blog.

Parsons led the Cowboys with eight tackles in Sunday’s win over the Giants and he’s already one of — if not the best — players on the Dallas defense.

He’s the Defensive Rookie of The Year favorite through five weeks of play.

Austin Johnson, Defensive Tackle, New York Giants

Photo by Steve Manuel/The Football Letter

This week’s blog has been defense/special teams heavy and that isn’t changing with our next Nittany Lion on the list.

The Giants struggled at Dallas on Sunday, thanks in large part to injuries to Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones. Penn State alum Austin Johnson was a bright spot for the G-Men.

Johnson recorded another sack (giving him three on the season), four tackles and two tackles-for-loss.

To check out the full list of Penn Staters currently on NFL rosters, click here.

09.22.21
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Penn Staters At The Next Level: Week Two

As a die-hard Chiefs fan it pained me a little bit to write this week’s Penn Staters At The Next Level story, as former Nittany Lion Odafe Oweh made the game-changing play for the Baltimore Ravens in their thrilling win over Kansas City on Sunday Night Football.

With the Chiefs driving into Ravens territory late in the game and looking to take the lead, Oweh came up huge for his defense.

The rookie edge rusher fought off a block and knocked the ball loose from the arms of the usually fumble-proof Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Oweh proceeded to pounce on the ball and secure a win for Baltimore.

Micah Parsons, Linebacker, Dallas Cowboys

In his first game at defensive end since high school, all Micah Parsons did was earn Pro Football Focus’ Rookie of The Week honors. Playing on the edge of the line because of several injuries for Dallas, Micah made his presence felt in the team’s 20-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

He recorded eight quarterback pressures and his first career sack after forcing LA quarterback Justin Herbert into an intentional grounding penalty in the fourth quarter. The penalty put LA in a hole and forced them to kick a field-goal instead of punching in a touchdown.

Allen Robinson II, Wide Receiver, Chicago Bears

Photo By Steve Manuel/The Football Letter

For the first time this season, Allen Robinson found the end zone. Robinson beat his defender on an inside move and snagged the pass from Andy Dalton to put the Bears ahead early 7-0.

A-Rob finished the day with just two catches for 24 yards and that score, but it proved to be a key play in Chicago’s narrow 20-17 win.

DaQuan Jones, Defensive Tackle, Carolina Panthers

Another productive day for a former Nittany Lions defensive star. DaQuan Jones registered his first sack of the season by bringing down Saints quarterback Jameis Winston on fourth down.

Jones and the rest of the Panthers defense stifled the same high-powered Saints attack that ran roughshod over the Packers just a week ago.

To view each of the Penn State players on NFL rosters, click here.