Cowboys vs Patriots Week 6: History, player to watch, gut prediction

The Dallas Cowboys continued their winning ways last weekend with a 44-20 trouncing of the lowly New York Giants to move to 4-1. It was a win that opened itself up in the second half but gave the Cowboys areas to look to improve. Their Week 6 matchup raises the intrigue level quite a bit and gives the Cowboys another chance to continue putting themselves firmly in the conversation of the NFL’s elite. Good teams go into the bye week with a win; the Cowboys need to do so.

The Cowboys head to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots enter this game off of a win where they had to engineer a 13-point comeback against the Houston Texans, arguably the bottom feeder of the entire league. Normally, I would view a 2-3 team differently, but Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick, is never one to underestimate.

Like we do every week, let’s dive into the history of this matchup, take a look at the weather outlook (guys, we get to talk about an outdoor game, finally!), a few players who I think could influence this game plus a little extra here for you, and wrap us up with a gut prediction.

New England Patriots vs Dallas Cowboys History

All-Time Record: 7-6 in favor of the Cowboys (no Super Bowl matchups)

Most Recent Result: New England 13, Dallas 9 on November 24, 2019

A cross-conference matchup, the Cowboys and Patriots have not met each other too many times before. It is a bit odd how we have gotten to the all-time record, though. The Cowboys won the first seven matchups, followed by New England rattling off wins in the six most recent games. The Cowboys have not taken down the Patriots since 1996.

The recent run by the Patriots can largely be attributed to their future Hall of Fame duo of former quarterback, Tom Brady, and Belichick. Those two went 5-0 against the Cowboys and seemed to constantly have the Cowboys’ number. The Cowboys go on the road this weekend trying to snap a four-game losing streak when playing at New England.

This series has an interesting start as these two teams met in the first-ever game held at the Cowboys’ former home, Texas Stadium. The game on October 24, 1971, was not only the first game hosted there but also the first-ever matchup between these teams. The Cowboys started their seven-win run with a 44-21 victory.

As of lately, the Cowboys’ last two games have been entirely underwhelming. In 2015, the Cowboys lost quarterback, Tony Romo, early in the season for eight weeks due to a broken collarbone and did not win a single game in his absence. One of those games was a 30-6 beatdown at the hands of the Patriots that saw Tom Brady score three times.

The most recent result, in 2019, gave us the most “Foxborough” weather of when the teams met in late November. It was rainy and in the low 40s. This led to one total touchdown between the teams. The Cowboys could only manage three field goals in a 13-9 loss.

This New England team is much different from those of the past. Tom Brady has moved to Tampa Bay and rookie quarterback Mac Jones is leading the offense that is only averaging 19 points per game, a much different output than Patriots of the best. This Patriots team is one having to scratch and claw to simply be in games. The talent level that the NFL is accustomed to seeing out of New England seems to be down a bit this season.