Bill Belichick Says Anyone Can’t Be Compared To Lawrence Taylor, Not Even Micah Parsons

The New England Patriots are preparing for a Week 4 showdown against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, and they will face perhaps the league’s greatest defensive player in Micah Parsons. but for Bill Belichick, Lawrence Taylor still remains supreme!

Bill Belichick Says Anyone Can’t Be Compared To Lawrence Taylor, Not Even Micah Parsons

The linebacker has established himself as a true superstar in the NFL and is on a Hall of Fame path in his first two years. He has at least 13 sacks in back-to-back seasons and is off to a fast start in 2023 with four sacks through three games.

Parsons’ start to the season and influence on Dallas’ chances of being a Super Bowl contender have him not only in the running for Defensive Player of the Year but also for MVP of the whole league.

With the Patriots facing the Cowboys on Sunday, head coach Bill Belichick said earlier this week in an interview with WEEI that Parsons had physicality and athleticism “along the lines of a [Lawrence] Taylor.”

Those are very harsh statements, considering Belichick’s views against the Giants’ Hall of Fame linebacker are well established.

Of course, no defensive player has earned the MVP award since Lawrence Taylor in 1986. Bill Belichick was the Giants’ defensive coordinator at the time, and he coached Lawrence throughout most of his career.

That, according to Belichick, is a waste of time.

“I think comparing players like that, it’s not really — I would just say, I wouldn’t put anybody ahead of Lawrence Taylor, period,” Belichick said, according to Pro Football Talk. “Now, maybe I’m prejudiced, but I mean, I saw that guy every day for over a decade and he tilted the field for a decade.

“So, until somebody does that — and there’s a lot of great players and I’m not taking anything away from anybody else, there’s a lot of great players that have been in this league, that are in this league.

“But I’m not putting anyone ahead of Lawrence Taylor.” No, not yet.”

Belichick acknowledged that comparing Taylor and Parsons is difficult because to the tactics their teams utilized, saying that what the Cowboys play now is different from the defensive he ran with the Giants.

“In a 3-4 defense, Lawrence played outside linebacker. These guys don’t even have a 3-4 defense. Not saying they should, but that’s just totally different. … Parsons is really a defensive end,” Belichick said.

“They intentionally move (Parsons) around,” Belichick continued. “They play him on the end of the line in different combinations — to the field, to the boundary, to the tight end, to the left, to the right, to the open side, whatever the formula is. So, you know what you’re getting there.

“And then they do play him some off the ball in pass-rush situations. And then they play him a little bit at linebacker — not much, but a little bit. But most of the time he’s on the end of the line of scrimmage.”

On Sunday, we’ll see if the Patriots can effectively prohibit Parsons from spoiling the game.

Belichick is correct in emphasizing Taylor’s dominance and for how long. From 1981 through 1990, he was an All-Pro player for ten straight seasons and was the focus of New York’s two Super Bowl victories.

While Parsons is on a path that might one day put him in contact with Taylor, he’ll need to keep his game up for many years to come.

 

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