Ever sit there and think, 'Gee, what are Bill Belichick's favorite things?' Yeah, me neither, but I had to start this column somewhere. I chose this (and now I have that song in my head. 'When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling bad.' You're welcome).
Nantucket comes to mind. Family. And Lawrence Taylor. Definitely L.T. It is rare that anyone's name is ever uttered in the same breath. Tom Brady. Matthew Slater.
"I feel like I've coached the best offensive player, the best player in football in Tom (Brady); the best defensive player in football in L.T. (Lawrence Taylor), and the best special-teams player in football in Matt Slater," he said in an interview this summer.
So earlier this week, when the Pats coach invoked Taylor's name when speaking of Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons, I took notice.
"Like every great player, he's pretty good at everything," Belichick said. "He's got a lot of power. He's very fast. He's long. He's very athletic, so he's a hard guy to cut (block). He's a hard guy to knock off the ball. And he plays all over. So finding him, that's No. 1. He could be inside. He could be outside. He could be on either edge. He's a big, physical player that's very athletic and quick. Along the lines of a (Lawrence) Taylor. That kind of athlete."
On occasion, Belichick has been prone to hyperbole - does anyone remember Johnny Hekker being a weapon? - but Taylor's name doesn't come up lightly. There's thought behind the reference, and while historically, there is no comparison, Parsons is disruptive and capable of changing games even before a ball is snapped. He consistently delivers, a game-wrecker even if you're doing your damndest not to let that happen.
Parsons has four sacks, four quarterback hits, and nine QB hurries. Each places him in the top 5 in the league. This performance should come as no surprise. The former Penn State star was the only player to accumulate triple-digit pressures over the previous two seasons, and his pressure rate over that time was nearly two percentage points higher than the next-best pass rusher (per Next Gen Stats).
"One of the top five players in this league, regardless of position," said Belichick's offensive coordinator, Bill O'Brien, adding, "It just jumps out to you on film. So you have to do a great job of understanding what they're trying to do with him - where he is - but at the end of the day, like there's going to be some battles that you'll have to fight one on one. You can't always double them. You can't always run away from him because they do a lot of different things with him. So we have to be aware of him on every single play."
So with that, a look at just how disruptive Parsons has been and, perhaps, their best avenue for the Patriots toward neutralizing him.