Cowboys vs. Patriots: 5 Keys to a New England Romp on Sunday

When the New England Patriots play host to the Dallas Cowboys at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, it will mark a meeting of America's old team against America's new team. The Patriots were to the 2000s what the Cowboys were to the 1990s—the team to beat. The team with a bullseye constantly on its back.

The Cowboys limp into Sunday's contest at 2-2, their most recent defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions, in which they coughed up a now-notorious 24-point lead to lose 34-30. The Patriots, on the other hand, are riding a two-game winning streak after beating their hated rivals, the New York Jets.

New England's last defeat? The Buffalo Bills, a team they're still tied with for the lead in the AFC East. Thus, a win is necessary.

A loss for the Cowboys, however, puts them below .500 for the second time this season, so a win is equally a necessity for them.

If New England wants to emerge victorious, there are a number of key factors they will need to keep in the front of their mind and in the front of their game plan.

Utilize the Hurry-Up Offense

Dallas' pass-rush has been superb this season, even if their standings against the pass aren't necessarily indicative of its effectiveness.

One great way to neutralize the pass-rush and to get the defense into a more vanilla look is to utilize the hurry-up offense. Calling the plays at the line has been something Brady's done quite a bit of this season, and his ability to do so against the Cowboys will prevent them from giving the Patriots a lot of crazy looks.

Look for New England to utilize the hurry-up offense early and often to keep the Cowboys on their heels.

Identify DeMarcus Ware

Rob Ryan has had success against the Patriots in the recent past. In fact, his Browns defense was the last unit to hold the Patriots under 30 points back in Week 9 of the 2010 season. 

He was able to do this largely by moving pieces around, and he has had a great deal of success utilizing DeMarcus Ware in this way for the majority of the season.

The Patriots will need to identify where Ware is on the field before each snap in order to best neutralize Dallas' best defensive threat.

The pressure will be on Dan Connolly to get the right protection called at the line of scrimmage. Connolly has done a great job of this so far in the absence of Dan Koppen, but against another Ryan defense that uses exotic blitzes, this could be his biggest challenge yet.

The Cowboys have already logged 13 sacks on the season in just four games, and Ware has been responsible for five of them. He is so versatile with his skill set and various pass-rush moves that the Cowboys move him around to get him in position to exploit matchup problems.

Shut Down Jason Witten

The New England Patriots have faced some of the league's best tight ends this season: Miami's Anthony Fasano, Oakland's Kevin Boss, Dustin "Patriots killer" Keller and even future Hall of Famer Antonio Gates.

The Patriots have had success against most of them, with Scott Chandler reeling in a touchdown, even holding Gates without a reception for the first time in a long time.

This week's challenge is Jason Witten. It's fairly obvious that Witten will be the highest priority for weapons in Romo's holster that need to be shut down. 

Expose a Young Offensive Line

The Cowboys start two rookies in Tyron Smith and Bill Nagy, as well as a center (Phil Costa) in his second year. 

The Patriots, on the other hand, have many veterans in the defensive trench. Guys like Vince Wilfork, Shaun Ellis, Andre Carter, Mark Anderson and others are capable defensive linemen with solid experience under their belt. This could be a matchup where the Patriots' knowledgeable veterans can take advantage of the Cowboys' offensive line.

No less than three sacks should be expected from New England's defense.

Furthermore, the ability to create pressure on Romo will also help force Romo into mistakes, which brings me to the final key...

Force Tony Romo into Mistakes

The Patriots prey on their opponent's mistakes. They led the league in interceptions last year with 25, and have lodged seven in the first five games of 2011.

The Cowboys are susceptible to mistakes. They have already committed 10 turnovers, and Romo is responsible for six of those.  

To avoid this being one of those games where the Patriots rely on Tom Brady for a win, they need to force turnovers, specifically on Romo. One way they could do this is with a similar strategy to how they stopped the Colts last year. The Patriots were able to mask their coverages against the Indianapolis Colts last year, and in so doing they forced Peyton Manning into a very uncharacteristic three interceptions.

They can't do the same exact thing against Romo and get away with it, and it's worth mentioning that most of what they did was to confuse the receivers more than to confuse Manning. However, masking coverages is a great way to get Romo off his game, as he is known for making a decision on where he's going with the ball before the ball's even in his hand.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz.