Cowboys show they're 'best defense in the world' in blowout of Jets

Two good defenses took the field at AT&T Stadium on Sunday afternoon. One walked away as the best in the NFL.

"You just witnessed the best defense in the world, we don't care about nobody else," Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence told NFL Network's Omar Ruiz after the Dallas demolished the New York Jets, 30-10. "They've got to come match our energy."

The Cowboys squelched any ray of sunlight the Jets thought they'd get in a "new" Zach Wilson this season in Sunday's blowout.

Dallas' D swarmed the quarterback, generating three sacks and a boatload of pressures (23). Dan Quinn's unit held the Jets to 64 total rushing yards with a fumble, and Wilson to 170 passing yards, a 44.4 completion percentage and three interceptions. Outside of allowing a 68-yard touchdown to Garrett Wilson, the Cowboys' defense put on a clinic in taking advantage of an opponent's weaknesses.

"This is expected for where we want to go," linebacker Micah Parsons said on Sunday, via the team's official website. "[This game] just means that you're improving. Finishing games, closing them out, smothering people, not giving them that hope and dream that they can come back in this game when they're on the same playing field as us. I'm very happy with where we're at right now."

Parsons was the catalyst behind the dominant performance. Moving all over the formation, the bamboozler generated two sacks, four QB hits, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He's the first player to reach those totals in a single game since Chandler Jones in Week 7, 2019 -- the only players to do so since 2018: Parsons, Jones, Aaron Donald, Von Miller.

Parsons also added nine QB pressures, seven QB hurries and one turnover forced by pressure, per Next Gen