FRISCO, Texas — Fresh off an ugly loss to the Arizona Cardinals where the Dallas defense was run all over from start-to-finish and the Dallas offense failed to find consistency in the red zone, the team will look to rebound with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots coming to town looking for revenge from the Cowboys' overtime win in Foxborough in 2021.
This week, Micah Parsons is once again one of the key pieces to a Dallas win along with a key member of the Cowboys offensive line that is expected to fill in for an injured starter.
Here are the Key Matchups for the week four clash against the New England Patriots.
Micah Parsons vs. Trent Brown
Micah Parsons has started the season with a sack in each of his first three games, and to keep that streak going in week four, he will have to get through one of the hotter left tackles in the NFL.
Patriots left tackle Trent Brown, a former seventh-round pick in 2015, received a raise over the offseason for the 2023 season and he has been tough as nails through three games on his way to allowing just one sack and two pressures.
On the other hand, Micah Parsons hasn't found much resistance – although Arizona did a great job keeping the NFC Defensive Player of the Month at bay before giving up a second half sack. Parsons' athleticism will have to show up on Sunday for him to start the season with four straight games with a sack on the quarterback.
Chuma Edoga vs. Matthew Judon
Staying on the left side of the offensive line, I'm throwing this matchup in with the expectation that Chuma Edoga gets the start at left tackle on Sunday with Tyron Smith out with a knee injury. While Tyler Smith is another option, I don't see the younger Smith getting pushed out to tackle unless the older Smith is out for an extended period of time.
With that being said, Chuma Edoga will most likely have the task of having to limit Matthew Judon off the edge for the Patriots who has accounted for four sacks so far in 2023 in his own right after totaling 28 sacks in 2021 and 2022.
Judon moves to both edges to attack the backfield in unique ways, but I expect the four-time Pro Bowler to hone in on the left side and force Edoga to show that he can withstand Judon's pass rush. While Edoga has allowed six pressures on Dak Prescott this season, he has yet to allow a sack. It will take a firm effort against Judon to keep that goose egg intact after Sunday.
Cowboys WRs vs. Christian Gonzalez
There has been chatter this week that the expectation for Sunday would be that New England's stud rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez will travel with CeeDee Lamb on Sunday, and I'm not 100-percent convinced that will be the case.
Gonzalez has honed in on his skills on each boundary through three games and has shown that he will take on multiple matchups within a game. With that, I expect Lamb and Gonzalez to matchup quite a few times on Sunday, but the rookie will also line up opposite of guys like Brandin Cooks and Michael Gallup.
To increase red zone efficiency, getting the ball into the hands of receivers on the boundary will be crucial, and that will be Gonzalez's job to cover. If Dak Prescott and the offense can beat the rookie, you will most likely see a more efficient offense overall on Sunday.
