Refs continue unfair treatment of Cowboys' Micah Parsons with egregious missed holding on SNF

Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons ranks at the top of the NFL in seemingly every advanced pass-rushing metric. That is doubly impressive when you consider he's double-teamed at a 33% percent clip, which is the highest of any rusher in the game, according to ESPN analytics.

For whatever reason, though, Parsons can't draw a holding call to save his life.

During any given game, Parsons is held at least once or twice, if not more. This was evident in the Cowboys' Thanksgiving win and it turned up again in the team's Sunday night battle against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Battling flu-like symptoms leading up to kickoff, Parsons won a rep against Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert, who resorted to blatantly tugging Parsons' jersey to prevent the All-Pro from tackling Jalen Hurts for a big loss.

The play occurred right in front of the official and nothing was called.

Cowboys star Micah Parsons gets robbed wit non-holding call vs Eagles

Holding penalties don't get more blatant than that. What does Parsons have to do to get a call? Throw his hands up in protest and flail like the Eagles defensive line after every snap? It's not like Parsons to plead for a whistle, but he's been given unfair treatment all season. It might be time to resort to drastic measures.

If you can believe it (you probably can), Parsons has drawn two holding penalties this season, including zero in the past six games, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. He's third on the Cowboys in that department behind ascending DT Osa Odighizuwa (four) and veteran edge rusher Dante Fowler (three).

Parsons should have more than double the tallies of his teammates. He's first in the league in pass-rush win rate at 37% (Myles Garrett is second at 27%) and first with 73 pressures entering Sunday, per Pro Football Focus. How does that translate to two awarded holding calls?

If that's what it takes, right? Parsons can keep his head down and keep hunting, but he might have to start pleading his case to officials.

Ironically, Parsons showed up seconds later with a sack of Hurts that helped limit the Eagles to a field goal before halftime. The non-holding call was irrelevant in the bigger picture, but the fact it happened again on a national stage will hopefully send a message to the league office.

Sooner or later Parsons isn't going to be awarded a hold in a crucial moment. It's equivalent to the treatment LeBron James gets in the NBA and it must be brought to an end. No player should be penalized (pun not intended) for being great.

That's what happens to Parsons every Sunday.

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