The New England Patriots finally have their first win of the season, and now they have to follow it up by playing one of the toughest teams in the NFL.
After beating the Jets on Sunday for their first win of the season, the Pats now will gear up to face the Cowboys in Dallas in Week 4.
The 2-1 Cowboys’ boast an elite defense and a decent collection of skill players around Dak Prescott. Working in New England’s favor is that the Cowboys are coming off their first loss of the season, an underwhelming display in Arizona that saw them lose 28-16 to Josh Dobbs and the Cardinals. It was their first game since losing star cornerback Trevon Diggs for the season due to an ACL tear.
But the showing in Arizona is the aberration so far, and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was effusive in his praise of Dallas on Monday in his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show.
“(The) Cowboys’ biggest strength is everything,” Belichick said. “Really good on defense, Parsons is probably the best defensive player in the league or certainly one of the top ones. I can’t imagine anybody being more of a problem than he is.
“Offensively, it’s a big three, their returner (KaVontae Turpin) is dynamic. They’ve got some really good players. They’re tough, it’s tough every week, it’s a tough league to win in. Cowboys are good, but so is everybody else we play.”
Parsons is sure to be a handful for New England’s offensive line. He’s had at least one sack each game, including a pair in Week 2, and has forced one fumble this season.
Belichick went as far as comparing Parsons' athleticism to Lawrence Taylor's.
“Like every great player he’s pretty good at everything," Belichick said of Parsons. "He’s got a lot of power, he's very fast, he’s long, he’s very athletic so he’s a hard guy to cut, a hard guy to knock off the ball, and he plays all over. So finding him, that’s No. 1, where is he, he could be inside, he could be outside, he could be on either edge.
“He’s a big, physical player that’s very athletic and quick, along the lines of a (Lawrence) Taylor, that kind of athlete.”