Cowboys vs. Patriots -- The battle of the Bills

Bill Parcell's homecoming tour finishes this Sunday night when the Dallas Cowboys travel to New England to play Bill Belichick's Patriots. The Pats are the only team once coached by the Tuna that hasn't been visited this season.

Both teams get to this match-up with a 7-2 record, but while New England has a two-game advantage over the Dolphins in the AFC east division, the Cowboys are being hunted down by the Eagles, who are just one game behind them in the standings.

Dallas also is playing to remain as the number two seed in the NFC and have a first round bye in the playoffs, while the Pats can reach that status with a win over the Cowboys.

This one is going to be an interesting game.

The big question is how New England is going to score against the best passing defense in the NFL?

The Cowboys started this season with a simple pass rush. They were not blitzing so that their linebackers could help the secondary. However, as the games progressed, they noticed that their cornerbacks, especially Terence Newman, have been able to cover receivers one-on-one without much trouble, so they have been attacking the passer more and more.

Even with that increased attack though, the Cowboys have only recorded 19 sacks this season, 19th in the NFL, while New England's offensive line has only allowed 17. So, expect New England's QB, Tom Brady, to have enough time to pass the ball Sunday.

The problem for the Patriots is the wide receivers vs. the Dallas cornerbacks.

Against most of the NFL teams, Dallas' corners are undersized with just Pete Hunter being over the six-foot mark. New England's receiving corps, however, has their tallest man in David Givens who is 6-0.

Brady's passing game usually excels with spread formations, and this will be the case Sunday against the Cowboys. The Patriots also will use a lot of screen-plays, given the fact that running backs Kevin Faulk and Antowain Smith are good receivers, in an attempt to have a good time of possession.

On the other side of the ball things will be a little different. Parcells expects his team to run the ball between 30 to 35 times a game to control the clock. In fact, they are among the best in the league in time of possession with 32:49 a game.

The problem is that the Cowboys' running game hasn't been as efficient as the Tuna would like it to be, thus forcing QB Quincy Carter to throw the ball more than they would like, and that's just what's going to happen against the Patriots.

Carter has been extremely accurate this season though. More than everyone thought he could be in fact. And while he only has just nine TDs, nine interceptions and only a 74.4 passer rating, the system is working well.

Parcells has built the offensive playbook around Carter's ability to scramble out of the pocket and for the receivers to use their advantage in body frame to catch the passes. We will have to wait and see what they can do against an aggressive Patriot's defense, which is somewhat weakened due to a lot of injuries.

In the game against the Buccaneers, the Cowboys struggled offensively and were shut down by a good defense, just as the Bills limited them to 10 points last week. So, it will be no surprise if Dallas can't score much, which is especially true in the red zone due to a lack of a good running game.

This game will be a closely fought battle between the Master (Parcells) and his Apprentice (Belichick). In the end, the Patriots should win if Belichick once again finds a creative way to overcome his team's weakness.