NFL Week 6: Cowboys vs. Patriots Preview

Oct 13, 2021
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4 mins read
NFL Week 6: Cowboys vs. Patriots Preview

The New England Patriots welcome the Dallas Cowboys to Gillette Stadium in Week 6 of the NFL. Both teams enter this game following successive week 5 victories, with an impressive come-from-behind win for the Patriots – they defeated the Houston Texans 25-22. Meanwhile, the continuing dominance in Dallas saw the Cowboys obliterate the New York Giants 44-20.

Who Can Stop the Dallas Cowboys?

There’s no denying that Dak Prescott & co. are currently standing as one of the league’s most formidable teams. Despite losing to the defending champions from Tampa Bay during the season opener, the tide quickly turned in Texas, and they’ve been unstoppable ever since. This story continued in week 5, cruising up and down the field without a struggle against the NY Giants defense.

515 yards later, a final score of 44-20 versus the Giants put an end to another chapter in the Cowboys season, which has been a showcase for Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott.

Elliott reached the end zone on the ground and through the air, totaling 112 yards, while Prescott threw for 302 yards and three scores. Impressively, Zeke has now amassed 100 yards in three consecutive games for the first time since 2019.

Naturally, we often highlight the successes in offense, because who doesn’t love a touchdown hungry team? But it’s the Dallas defense that has been the backbone of this year’s success.

After the week 5 clash, they’d forced two turnovers against the Giants, which became their ninth consecutive game where they’d achieved this feat. In addition, they held the opposition to 22 points or below for the third time in their previous five games.

Of course, some will argue that the Giants were missing a significant number of offensive starters during Week 5 but denying Dallas’ improved defense is impossible as they’re becoming the team to beat as a top NFC contender.

Sitting comfortably in first place in the NFC East, the Cowboys seemingly have their division on lockdown with four back-to-back wins. Heading into Patriot’s territory won’t be an easy task, but does the championship-winning experience of Bill Belichick have the capability of figuring out Dak Prescott?

NFL Week 6: Cowboys vs. Patriots Preview 1
Oct 3, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) reacts to a touchdown in the third quarter against the Carolina Panthers at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Bill Belichick vs. The Cowboys

It’s all well and good preparing for Dak Prescott, but the task ahead for Bill Belichick stems around much more than one lone player.

There are a lot of great players in this league, but you really have to prepare for an entire team,” Belichick told Boston.com. “You can’t just prepare for one guy.

There are a lot of things that Dallas does well,” Belichick said. “Just like there are a lot of things that Tampa does well, just like there are a lot of things that Houston does well, so you have to totally prepare for each team and defend those players that they have out there and schemes that they run.

But I don’t think we’ll see anybody better than Tom Brady,” Belichick said. “But Dak does some things that Tom doesn’t do. Tom does some things that Dak doesn’t do. The skill players are different, the lines are different, so it’s really about defending the team, not just one person, although you have to be aware of defending individual players’ skills.”

Close Encounter with The Texans

Davis Mills owned the Patriots for most of Sunday’s game, so it should come as no surprise when the NFL odds and scores are favoring the Cowboys in Week 6.

Bill Belichick’s rookie quarterbacks aren’t delivering the playoff quality results that are required, and this factor becomes evident as we continue to see the Patriots struggle week to week. 312 pass yards and 3 touchdown scores for Mills came after a rocky 87 passing yards in Buffalo the week prior.

Fortunately, unanswered field goals from Houston and 231 passing yards via Mac Jones managed to save the Patriots from embarrassment. The Pats will roll into Week 6 ranked 25th in the league in scoring offense and ranked 26th in total yards – a set of statistics the Cowboys can certainly capitalize on.

NFL Week 6: Cowboys vs. Patriots Preview 2

NFL Odds and Line Movement

As of Monday, the Cowboys are favored at the sportsbooks by 3.5 points; however, even when the Cowboys aren’t playing well, they’re one of America’s most heavily bet on teams. The line movement will undoubtedly shift in their favor, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Dallas favored by a touchdown or more by game day.

We should also consider that the Tampa Bay Buccanneers were seven-point favorites when facing the Pats last week, and the Cowboys are looking considerably more robust than the Buccaneers after five weeks of NFL action.

The inconsistency in New England is a huge red flag for bettors, even more so when they’re facing a 4-1 Cowboys team who’s coming off a blowout victory.

Bryson Treece

Bryson Treece

Bryson Treece is the founder and managing editor of InsideTheStar.com, which he established in 2008, and its parent site, DailyRivals.net, a new sports blog network. With 18 years in sports media, he has published over 500 articles, been credentialed press at the 2016 NFL Draft in Arlington, TX, and built Inside The Star into an established independent source for Dallas Cowboys news and analysis. Based in Greenville, Texas, Bryson oversees website and editorial operations, and content strategy. Connect with @CowboysNation on X/Twitter to join the conversation.

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Cowboy Fan Ed
Cowboy Fan Ed
Oct 14, 2021 6:56 AM

When Michael Jordan played for North Carolina there was a saying that the only person that can hold him to under 20 points per game was coach Dean Smith! So as with this Cowboys team the only person that can stop them is owner Jerry Jones …… if ole JJ will stay in his sky box and leave the coaches alone no telling how far we will go!!

Cowboy Fan Ed
Cowboy Fan Ed
Oct 14, 2021 7:14 AM

By the way while I’m on the subject of slamming ole JJ could you imagine if the vail was removed and we could see what he and the other owners across the league have said through the years about their players and other issues? How bout let’s go into an NFL locker room or stand on the sideline during a game and hear the players calling each other racial slurs! I’m not a big fan of John Gruden or the Raiders but we all know that there was only ONE man that walked the face of the earth and never said or had a racist thought!! Ok I’m done venting on this Thursday morning so I want to hear from all my Cowboy brothers on what y’all think!

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