Colin Cowherd breaks down Micah Parsons trade effect on Cowboys' heartbreaking loss to Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles dealt with the Dallas Cowboys in Thursday's season opener. One of the biggest questions after the game was did the Cowboys missed Micah Parsons in their first game without the defensive end?

The Cowboys traded Micah Parsons in a shocking move before the start of the new season. The four-time Pro Bowl was traded to the Green Bay Packers after lengthy negotiations over a contract extension with the Cowboys failed.

Despite question marks over Dallas' defense in Parsons' absence, the Cowboys did well, losing 24-20. Following the loss, Colin Cowherd addressed Dallas' defense on his podcast.

Cowherd claimed Parsons' absence didn't impact the outcome of the game, breaking down his performance against the Eagles while playing for the Cowboys last season.

“There's a big advantage," Cowherd said (Timestamp 1:00 onwards). "Jalen Hurts, O-line, Saquon Barkley, at home, and they looked unbelievable in the first half. Three drives, 200 plus yards, three TDs. Eagles were flawless. And everybody points to, well, what about Micah?

"Well, the Cowboys could not stop the Eagles twice last year with Micah. I saw this last year. Today, the Cowboys versus the Eagles without Micah, one sack and five quarterback hits. The Cowboys last game with the Eagles with Micah, one sack and one quarterback hit. Micah wasn't the difference.”

To Cowherd's point, Dallas' defense held firm against the Eagles on Thursday, especially in the final 30 minutes. The defense created four chances to take the lead in the second half but the Cowboys' offense failed to capitalize.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones discussed team's outing in season opener without Micah Parsons

One of the names constantly in the news during the Micah Parsons contract saga was of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The Cowboys owner was asked if his team missed Parsons in the season opener, Jones responded by praising Sam Williams.

"Well, any time you have a great player and don't have him out there on the field," Jones said. "But I was specifically watching some of the guys who could pick up the slack. (No.) 54 had some really significant impact.

"All in all, this group adjusted, made the adjustments, we stepped up in the second half on defense, we didn’t quite get it done despite a strong performance in the first half.”

Williams was expected to help replace the former defensive end this season and the former second-round pick held his own against the defending Super Bowl champions on Thursday night.