The Dallas Cowboys could not have started the 2024 season on a better note. While the offense cooled down in the second half after a hot start, Mike Zimmer's defense forced Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson into one of the worst games of his career.
While Micah Parsons took the game over in the second quarter, enough cannot be said about DeMarvion Overshown's performance. Making his NFL debut after a torn ACL suffered last preseason wiped out his rookie year, Overshown was arguably the player of the game.
Overshown was listed as a backup on the Cowboys' Week 1 depth chart, but he started on Sunday. It would not have been a surprise if Overshown showed some rust in his first-ever regular season game, but he looked two years removed from the injury.
The 2023 third-round pick led Dallas with 11 tackles (five solo), including a sack of Watson that set social media ablaze. Watson was flushed out of the pocket on a big 4th-and-6 and Overshown shot out of a cannon to bring down the QB before he could get a pass off.
DeMarvion Overshown had an electric debut in Cowboys' win over the Browns
Overshown had more ground to make up than Parsons, who is one of the fastest pursuit players in the league and yet he got to Watson before the superstar pass-rusher. Not many players can make Parsons look like he's running in quicksand. Watson had no chance to react in time to throw the ball away.
Having already endeared himself to Cowboys fans, Overshown provided a cold-blooded review of the play after the game.
"As soon as he [Watson] broke the pocket, he was mine," said Overshown, via team reporter Patrik Walker. "He thought he was gonna be able to get a throw off when he saw me but it was too late. I had him."
According to Reel Analytics, Overshown covered 14 yards in just 2.8 seconds on his sack of Watson. That equates to a closing speed of five yards per second. Only a handful of defensive players can say they are scary fast. The former Texas Longhorn proved on Sunday that he is one of them.
Performance aside, it's arguably more important that Overshown showed elite explosion in his first game back from ACL surgery. He also showed supreme confidence in the knee, which is a huge hurdle in the recovery process.
We'd normally advise against overreacting to Week 1, but Overshown's performance is worthy of exactly that. The Cowboys may have another star in the making on the defensive side of the ball. If you were thinking about ordering an Overshown jersey do it now before they go out of stock.
