Bedard: Five things to know when the Patriots take on the overrated Cowboys

When the Dallas Cowboys visit Gillette Stadium on Sunday, you're supposed to believe this is the toughest test the Patriots will have the rest of the season.

While the Patriots will have trouble running away from many average teams if the opponent doesn't turn the ball over due to the Patriots' offensive limitations — which could make most of the games, to some degree, competitive — don't believe the hype about these Cowboys. They do not measure up.

Here are five things you need to know:

They haven't beaten anyone of substance

While the 2019 Patriots can't exactly run on strength of schedule or the strength of their own victories (the 5-5 Eagles or fluffy Bills are it), at least they have a track record and, you know, the Super Bowl title in their back pocket.

The Cowboys? First of all, they're 6-4 in one of the worst divisions in football. Their wins have come against the Giants, Redskins, Dolphins, Eagles, Giants and Lions. They are the Bills of the NFC. In fact, the Cowboys have the second-worst strength of victory to Buffalo among playoff contenders.

Give the Cowboys credit - they've largely beaten the teams they should (outside of the Jets ... yikes). Anytime they've had a chance to make a statement victory, they've fallen on their face against the Saints, Packers and Vikings.

So a team that has fallen short in every big game, is suddenly going to come into Gillette and knock off the Patriots? Yeah, I have a hard time seeing that. The only way it happens is if the Patriots hand them the game. And they don't do that very often at home in showcase games.

Dallas' offense has nice parts but it's missing a heart

When you look at the names on the Dallas offense and see them on film, they are very impressive at times. Dak Prescott is a good quarterback, Amari Cooper is a top receiver and Zeke Elliott rounds out the new triplets. Add in impressive young receiver Michael Gallup, veteran slot Randall Cobb and the ghost of Jason Witten, and you have the makings of an offense that is tough to defend.

But against an excellent, veteran defense, it will be tough to score.

Why? A couple of reasons. While the offensive line has very good players at center Trent Frederick, superb right guard Zack Martin and right tackle La'el Collins, there are issues. Left tackle Tyron Smith, who was once on the fast track to Canton, has been rendered a shell of his former self due to an accumulation of injuries. His unbelievable athletic ability has been sapped and he's more susceptible than ever to allowing pressure.

Then there's left guard. Connor Williams has been the starter but was injured last week and has returned to practice. Backup Xavier Su'a-Filo played last week and was terrible, just like he was with the Texans. When healthy, Williams is better but not that much. The struggles at left guard have affected Frederick to weaken both spots.

Add in the fact that Collins can get confused with pressure packages, and you have a line that is ripe to get taken advantage of by the Patriots' excellent pass rush.

The offensive scheme is simple

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore got a lot of pub earlier in the season when the Cowboys put up at least 31 points in the first three games ... against the Giants, Redskins and Dolphins.

The truth of the matter is he's no wunderkind. The Cowboys run a very basic scheme that is very predictable. There are a lot of hitches and fades on the outside, and hooks inside. It's basically the old Scott Linehan offense and that's no surprise. Moore, as a backup NFL QB, played under Linehan in Detroit and Dallas, and coached under him last season.

The scheme is tried and true, but it needs really talented players executing it, which the Cowboys have. But it's old school and very basic. It's had issues against the better defensive coordinators (Dennis Allen, Saints; Mike Pettine, Packers; Gregg Williams, Jets; Mike Zimmer, Vikings). And the Patriots have the best defensive coordinator in the game, Bill Belichick. The Patriots will know exactly what's coming and will have a plan to defend everything.

One thing the Cowboys have going for them: they're coming off a game against Matt Patricia, so there's some carryover to the Patriots. But we all know how different this defense is to the one Patricia used.

The defense is good

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli may be as old school as they come, but as opposed to offense, simple can be better on defense because it allows the players to play faster. And these Cowboys are fast. This will be a much tougher test for the Patriots' jalopy of an offense. There was a time not too recently where you could take it to the bank that Tom Brady and Co. would rip through a Cover-2 defense (Marinelli does mix in more man than he used to), but that feels like a decade ago.

Plus, the Cowboys have arguably the best defensive end duo in the league (Robert Quinn and DeMarcus Lawrence), among the best linebacker group (Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esh, Sean Lee). Add in Michael Bennett in sub and a capable secondary and, yeah, Josh McDaniels might need to restock that deceptive play list for this one.

The Jason Garrett Factor

This is burned into my brain. It was one of the biggest coaching fails I've ever witnessed. It was 2011, Jason Garrett's first season as Dallas coach, and his team had the Patriots on the ropes at Gillette with a 16-13 lead with 3:36 to play. A competent coach would have known he needed to do whatever it took to keep the ball out of Brady's hand.

Not Garrett.

DeMarco Murray run, minus-2 yards.
DeMarco Murray run, minus-1 yard.
Tyron Smith false start.
Tashard Choice run, 8 yards.
Punt.

Brady and the Patriots didn't settle for a field goal. No, they predictably went for the dagger and got it with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive to win the game.

That's Garrett vs. Belichick.