What To Watch For: Will the Patriots run wild against the Cowboys in Week 4?

FOXBORO -- The Patriots have a huge opportunity in front of them this weekend. Beat the Cowboys in Dallas, and they hit a relatively soft part of their schedule at 2-2 and will have a chance to make some real noise in October.

The Patriots are focused on the Cowboys, but it must be in the back of their minds that matchups with the Saints (potentially without Derek Carr) and the dysfunctional Raiders are on the horizon. Win this weekend, and they have two very winnable games up next.

Again, the Pats don't look ahead. That's for us. And likely the Cowboys last weekend. (And potentially this weekend, with a matchup with the 49ers ahead in Week 5.)

After a great start to the season, the Cowboys proved to be beatable last Sunday in Arizona, falling to the Cardinals 28-16. While no one should really be looking to the Arizona Cardinals for any sort of advice, they may have given the Patriots a bit of a blueprint to keep the Cowboys in check for a second straight weekend.

Here's what we'll be watching for as the Patriots go for their fist win streak of the 2023 season. 

O-Line vs. Micah 

The New England offensive line took a big step in the right direction last weekend. They'll need to be even better this weekend with Micah Parsons ready to destroy any offensive game plan Bill O'Brien may have prepared.

Everyone knows what Parsons can do: He gobbles up quarterbacks and rushers with relative ease. He is the best defensive player in the NFL and nightmare fuel for any offensive coach that has to plan for him. O'Brien and offensive line coach Adrian Klemm probably didn't get much sleep this week, and when they did, Parsons was probably there to interrupt their REM cycles.

As solid as right tackle Vederian Lowe was last week in New Jersey, he's going to need a ton of help against Parsons on Sunday. The Pats are going to have to double-team him quite a bit, and when they're not, anyone in Parson's general area should be ready to throw out a chip. Expect tons of three tight-end sets with Pharaoh Brown shadowing Parsons.

Just keep running

Running away from a guy like Parsons usually helps, but Parsons is also darn good at chasing down running backs. He's so disruptive in a lot of different ways. 

But the Cowboys are vulnerable on the ground, as the Cardinals proved last weekend by torching them for 222 rushing yards and a robust 7.4 yards per carry. And with the New England offensive line coming off a strong week against a talented Jets defensive front, where the Pats raced for 157 yards on the ground, the run game should be able to really break out this weekend.

Ezekiel Elliott will have a ton of motivation against the only other NFL team he's played for in a building that he loves. He's fresh off rushing for 80 yards and averaging 5.0 yards per carry against the Jets, so he'll be salivating to get the ball Sunday.

And this would be a great time for Rhamondre Stevenson to get going, after he averaged an abysmal 2.9 yards per carry over the first three weeks. He also had a key drop on a third-down pass last weekend.

If the Pats can get both Rhamondre and Zeke going on Sunday, they'll have path to a victory. It will keep the Cowboys offense off the field, as the Cardinals did last weekend when they held Dallas to just eight offensive drives. 

And success on the ground could open up even bigger things for the New England offense as a whole.

Big Plays in Big D?

A good run game will set up play action for the Patriots. That, in turn, could lead to some big plays from an offense that hasn't produced many of those this season.

Pharaoh Brown's 58-yard catch-and-run touchdown against the Jets came off a beautiful play action fake that the New York defense couldn't resist sinking its teeth into, giving the tight end/fullback a lot of room to run. It's New England's biggest play of the year, and second-biggest play of Mac Jones' NFL career.

The first on that list? Jones' 75-yard touchdown to Kendrick Bourne against the Cowboys two years ago. How about a few repeats of that this weekend?

Bourne is the team's leading receiver this season, but his numbers are nothing to write home about: 14 catches for 139 yards. No receiver has really done much for New England, as rookie Demario Douglas is the only Patriots wideout with a reception of 20 yards or more.

It's been a paper-cut offense for the Patriots thus far, with Jones averaging just 5.98 yards per attempt (27th in the NFL) and 4.6 yards per completion (29th). The offensive line had a lot to do with the offense's approach the first two weeks, and the wet and windy weather in New Jersey did so last week.

There should be more big-play attempts this weekend, and we're not talking about the "chuck it up and pray" approach the offense had last season. Dallas' secondary still has Stephon Gilmore, but overall the group is pretty suspect without star corner Trevon Diggs. Gilmore is still solid, but the Patriots should be able to pick on the rest of Dallas' corners this weekend.

Big Test for the D

The Dallas offense is pretty average. Mike McCarthy is A-OK with his team pounding the ground and controlling the game. The Patriots actually have more touchdown passes (5) than the Cowboys (3) this season. The Pats also have more passing yards per game (235.7) than the Boys (207.3). 

But the Cowboys have some legit playmakers that will make it tough on the New England defense. Dak Prescott is completing 67.5 percent of his passes for the year, and is two weeks removed from going 31-for-38 against the Jets. Tony Pollard can really get going too, with the running back averaging 4.3 yards per carry and coming off a 122-yard game against the Cards. If he's able to get through the line and New England's linebackers, Pollard could break off some game-changing runs. 

The New England defense locked down the Jets' rush attack last weekend, and will have to do the same against the Cowboys on Sunday. But there's also a huge threat in the passing game in CeeDee Lamb.

No biggie, right? Just another stud receiver for Christian Gonzalez -- the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Month -- to continue his ridiculous run against. Gonzalez's tackling will have to be on point this weekend, with Lamb racking up 126 yards after the catch so far this season.

The Dallas offense isn't one of the most high-powered offenses the Patriots will face, but it will still pose a good test for New England's impressive defense.

We've got you covered for this weekend's Patriots-Cowboys clash! Pregame coverage begins at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday with Patriots GameDay, and tune in to Patriots 5th Quarter on TV38 after the game!