New England's Ezekiel Elliott set for Dallas homecoming as Cowboys seek bounce-back win

NEW ENGLAND (1-2) at DALLAS (2-1)

Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EDT, Fox

BETTING LINE: Cowboys by 6 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Patriots 1-2; Cowboys 2-1.

SERIES RECORD: Cowboys lead 8-6.

LAST MEETING: Cowboys beat Patriots, 35-29, in OT on Oct. 17, 2021, at New England.

LAST WEEK: Patriots beat Jets 15-10; Cowboys lost to Cardinals 28-16.

PATRIOTS OFFENSE: OVERALL (13), RUSH (14), PASS (11), SCORING (26).

PATRIOTS DEFENSE: OVERALL (5), RUSH (9), PASS (5), SCORING (T-9).

COWBOYS OFFENSE: OVERALL (11), RUSH (8), PASS (T-18), SCORING (T-6)

COWBOYS DEFENSE: OVERALL (4), RUSH (25), PASS (2), SCORING (3)

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Patriots minus-2; Cowboys plus-6.

PATRIOTS PLAYER TO WATCH: LB Matt Judon had two sacks, including a safety, in the win over the Jets. Judon has a team-high four sacks a season after becoming the first New England player to get at least one sack in the first five games. In 2021 he set a team record with 6 1/2 sacks in the first five games. Judon is one of six players in the NFL with at least one sack in each of the first three games. Dallas' Micah Parsons is another.

COWBOYS PLAYER TO WATCH: RB Tony Pollard leads the NFL in carries (62) and touches (74) through three weeks. Coach Mike McCarthy says the Cowboys are conscious of the workload and interested in getting backups Rico Dowdle and rookie Deuce Vaughn more involved. Pollard is one of four NFL backs with at least three carries of 20 or more yards. He had 122 yards against the Cardinals.

KEY MATCHUP: Ezekiel Elliott, Rhamondre Stevenson and the Patriots running game against the Dallas defense. The former Dallas star Elliott is coming off his best game with the Patriots, 80 yards rushing against the Jets, after he was released by the Cowboys in the offseason in a cost-cutting move. Dallas is coming off its worst showing defensively against the run in a loss since the unit was historically bad in 2020. The Cardinals had 222 yards and averaged 7.4 yards per carry.

KEY INJURIES: The health of the Dallas offensive line is one of the biggest storylines. Three starters were missing against Arizona, and all three began the week working off to the side in practice. Six-time All-Pro RG Zack Martin injured an ankle in the opener, C Tyler Biadasz tweaked a hamstring last week in practice and LT Tyron Smith is dealing with a sore knee. ... Patriots CB Jonathan Jones began the week limited with the same ankle issue that has sidelined him the past two games. … DL Davon Godchaux also was limited after leaving last week’s win over the Jets. ... LG Cole Strange continues to deal with a knee issue.

SERIES NOTES: The Cowboys never could beat Tom Brady’s Patriots, losing all five meetings from 2003-19. They are 8-1 against New England quarterbacks not named Brady, including a 35-29 overtime victory against Mac Jones and crew two years ago.

STATS AND STUFF: With a victory, New England's Bill Belichick will join Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318) as the only NFL coaches with 300 regular-season wins. Belichick is 6-2 against the Cowboys. Former Dallas coach Tom Landry is fourth on the all-time list with 250 wins. Mike McCarthy of the Cowboys can tie Bud Grant for 19th at 158 wins. … The Patriots have had at least one sack in 22 consecutive games. It is the third-longest streak in the NFL behind Baltimore (24) and Kansas City (23). The previous time they didn’t get a sack was Dec. 26, 2021, against Buffalo. … New England’s defense held the Jets to 28 yards rushing last week. If the Patriots hold Dallas under 40, it would be the sixth time they have held an opponent under 40 yards rushing in back-to-back games, and first since 2015. … Jones is looking to post his seventh game in a row with 200 or more yards passing. He completed 15 of 21 passes for 229 yards and two TDs and an INT in his other Dallas meeting. … TE Hunter Henry has five or more catches in two of New England’s three games. He has a receiving TD in each of his two games against Dallas. … WR Kendrick Bourne had a receiving TD in the previous meeting with Dallas and is looking for his third game in row against the Cowboys with a TD catch. … CB Christian Gonzalez has a pass breakup in each of his first three games. He is one of six rookies with three or more. ... Dallas is bidding for a 10th consecutive home victory. It's the club's longest home winning streak since an 11-game run in 1991-92, or almost 20 years before the move to AT&T Stadium. ... The Cowboys lead the NFL with 12 drives of at least 10 plays, but the red zone has been a major issue the past two weeks. Dallas converted just three of 11 trips inside the 20 into touchdowns against the Jets and the Cardinals. ... QB Dak Prescott has two sub-80 passer ratings in the first three weeks. The eighth-year starter has never had more than two in his first four games in any season. ... WR Brandin Cooks had 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns in one season with the Patriots in 2017. ... CB Stephon Gilmore was the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year with New England in 2019, when he led the league with 20 pass breakups and tied for the most interceptions with six. ... Parsons is bidding to become the third Dallas defender to get a sack in each of the first four games of a season. Teammate DeMarcus Lawrence did it in 2017, and recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee DeMarcus Ware did it in 2008. ... K Brandon Aubrey is the first in the Super Bowl era to make all 10 field-goal attempts in his first three games.

FANTASY TIP: Dallas WR CeeDee Lamb had a career-high 149 yards receiving and his second career two-touchdown game in his only other meeting with the Patriots two years ago. He got fined for waving “bye” to the Patriots after scoring the winning TD in overtime of the 35-29 victory.

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