Micah Parsons didn’t record a sack for the first time in nearly a month, but don’t let the box score fool you - his fingerprints were all over the Green Bay Packers’ win over the Chicago Bears. And while the Packers walked away with the victory, Parsons walked away with unfinished business.
The All-Pro edge rusher made it clear: this wasn’t the end of the story, just the first chapter. With a rematch looming in two weeks - this time under the lights at Soldier Field - Parsons is already circling the date.
“When someone’s just running boot and running all game, it’s no fun for rushers,” Parsons said postgame to NFL Network. “But I’m not going to lie: I’m going to get him.”
That “him,” of course, is Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams - the No. 1 overall pick and the face of Chicago’s future. Parsons didn’t just talk the talk after the game. He backed it up on the field and in the locker room, where he shared what he told Williams during the heat of battle.
“I just let him know, you’re not going around me,” Parsons said. “And I held to that the whole game.
He did not beat me to that edge, not one time. I kind of hold that with passion.
If you’re going to run the boot(leg), run it the other way.”
That’s not just trash talk - that’s a competitor laying down a challenge. And based on how the game played out, he has every reason to feel confident.
Chicago’s game plan leaned heavily on the run, especially in the second half. When Williams did drop back, it was rarely from a traditional pocket.
The Bears kept him on the move - bootlegs, rollouts, play-action - anything to slow down the Packers’ pass rush and give their young quarterback a chance to breathe. But Parsons wasn’t buying it.
Time and again, the Packers’ $188 million pass-rusher tracked Williams down, staying disciplined and refusing to bite on misdirection. On one key play, Williams tried to beat Parsons to the edge - a footrace most quarterbacks would lose - and Parsons shut it down with ease, forcing an incompletion.
It’s the kind of play that doesn’t show up in the sack column, but it changes drives. It changes games. And it sends a message.
Even without a sack, Parsons was a force. According to Pro Football Focus, he racked up seven pressures, while the Packers’ defense sacked Williams once and hit him six times.
The pressure was constant. On one near-sack, Parsons flushed Williams from the pocket, and while the rookie slipped away just in time, he ran directly into Kingsley Enagbare, who finished the job.
That’s the kind of chain reaction Parsons creates - even when he doesn’t get the stat, he sets the table.
Credit to Bears offensive coordinator Ben Johnson for trying to scheme around the Packers’ pass rush. He leaned on motion, play-action, and a horizontal run game to keep the defense off balance.
And for stretches, it worked. But containing Parsons for four quarters is like trying to hold back a tide with a beach towel - eventually, it’s going to break through.
Now, with the rematch on deck, the chess match continues. The Bears will go back to the drawing board.
Williams will have another shot. But so will Parsons, and he’s already made his intentions clear.
The next round is coming. And Micah Parsons is already hunting.