The Patriots are considered by most to be the best team in the NFL right now. Normally, you want to face your best opponent with both fists in front of you and ready to take on anything.

But, it seems as if Dallas will be facing the league’s second best offense and fourth best passing offense with one hand tied behind their back, and their other hand wrapped in bandages.

Randy Moss has been one of the top receivers in the league since he entered it in 1998. It would have been a nice matchup to see Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Donte’ Stallworth go against the Cowboys starting secondary, but that won’t happen this Sunday. Instead, the Cowboys will have a not-yet-100% Terence Newman and, in all likelihood, Jacques Reeves making just his seventh start in the NFL. Reeves, who had one start as a rookie, had been filling in for Newman, and last week filled in for Anthony Henry.

Coach Wade Phillips rates Henry’s chances to play Sunday at “closer to doubtful.” Not only does Henry’s absence mean Reeves will get his sixth start of the season, but he’ll also probably be playing in Newman’s regular spot at left cornerback. Even though Newman made his first start last week, the coaching staff decided to keep Reeves in the left cornerback spot to keep the less-experienced corner from having to make the adjustment of playing on the right side.

Phillips admits it is possible that Newman will shadow Moss during the game, but stated that he normally does not shadow an opposing wide receiver. This means we could be seeing the dynamic Moss lining up against 5′11 Reeves throughout the game. Certainly, Reeves will have some help over the top, but it isn’t exactly the Newman-Moss matchup we hoped to see at the beginning of the season.

The banged up secondary presents quite a dilemma. Given time, Tom Brady will pick apart a defense even without weapons like Moss and Stallworth. He’s proven that over the past few years. The best way to counter him would be to keep in his face all night, but that leaves Moss and Stallworth facing more man coverage. That might not have been as big of a problem with Newman and Henry, but it isn’t exactly ideal with banged-up Newman and Reeves.

Still, it isn’t as if the Cowboys can just drop back into coverage and give Brady the time. It is a given that giving him time is a recipe for disaster. So, Dallas will need to mix it up, pick good times to come with the blitz, and try to confuse Brady by dropping back in full coverage from time to time.

It is not ideal, but it is what we have to work with this week.

Can you say crazy?

I’d like to give a game wrap up, but I can’t. After a game where Romo threw five interceptions and fumbled the ball away, to win in that fashion. It’s the type of thing that takes the words out of the mouth and the letters off the keyboard.

So let’s just relive that ending.

The Cowboys have the ball losing 24-18. They dink and dunk their way down the field and set up a potentially tying two point conversion with twenty seconds left.

The fade to Terrell Owens is broken up.

An onside kick would still leave the Cowboys twenty-five yards away from field goal range, but instead of recovering at their own forty, the ball is knocked forward and recovered at the Bills forty-seven.

The pass to Terrell Owens putting the ball in field goal range and the spike with one second left on the clock.

The play challenged and ruled an incompletion.

Romo completes two quick passes to set up a fifty-three yard field goal.

Nick Folk kicks the field goal. Dallas wins!

But wait, the Bills coach called time out right before the snap and the field goal must be attempted again.

And Nick Folk puts it through the goal posts again.

Chicago came back to win against Arizona in a crazy ending last year. Dallas had a 13-0 lead on Washington with two minutes left only to lose 14-13 the year before. But I can’t recall ever watching a game with as crazy an ending with that one. It’s like the Music City Miracle being called back because of a last second timeout and the Titans returning the second kick for a touchdown.

In a word: Crazy.

I found this little tidbit floating around the Yahoo website today. It’s called the buzz log, and the article shows the top twenty searches for a specific sports player’s jersey. The top player searched for was David Beckham. And, not a complete surprise, the next two were Cowboys players.

Coming in at number three was our very own T-Ro. Tony Romo is hot stuff this year, but apparently not hotter than the number two player: Marion Barber. That’s right, the Cowboys “backup” running back has the most searched for jersey of any NFL player.

Okay, so he’s only a backup in the technical sense that he doesn’t line up during the first drive of the game. But, still, I wonder how many times a player who shared playing time with another player has ended up having his sports jersey searched for more times than any other player?

It’s got to be rare. Especially if you consider standouts like Devin Hester to be ’starters’ on special teams.

It looks like people might be thinking of dressing up as a barbarian for Halloween. Let’s hope Marion the Barbarian keeps making enough plays to keep his jersey so popular.

It’s a question that is already starting to come up as fans look beyond the lowly Buffalo Bills towards what might be a meeting between two 5-0 teams, and what could be a preview of the Super Bowl.

Let’s just hope the Cowboys aren’t asking themselves the same question because that’s a good way to go into the Patriots game with a 4-1 record. There are no easy teams in the NFL. As they say, on any given Sunday any team can beat any other team. Heck, the lowly Houston Texans were able to beat the Indianapolis Colts last year, and the Colts went on to win the Super Bowl while the Texans didn’t even have a winning season.

But, while the Cowboys had better be focusing on the Bills, there is no reason why us fans can’t take a peek down the schedule at the Patriots.

Can the Cowboys beat New England?

Well, of course. As I said above, on any given Sunday any team can beat any other team. But how do they match up?

The Cowboys have the top-rated offense including most points and most yards. New England has the top-rated defense. They are also second behind the Cowboys in offense, while Dallas ranks eighth in the league in defense. And neither team has faced much competition considering Dallas’s opponents have a combined record of 3-13 while the Patriots opponents are coming in at a whopping 4-12.

So, when you break it all down, the most you can say right now is that each team has been able to defeat four sub-par teams. Both teams have dominant offenses and very strong defense. And, if you are thinking that Dallas has an edge by getting Newman and Ellis back, remember that the Patriots are getting Rodney Harrison back after having served a four game suspension.

So, both teams are likely to be better by the time they face each other.

Terence Newman is the unsung cornerback of the NFL. He is definitely one of the best playing the game, but his name often doesn’t get mentioned, perhaps because he doesn’t have the interception to go along with his great coverage skills. But any talk of Randy Moss having lost his legs has disappeared over the last four weeks. Newman will have his hands full, and Roy Williams may be asked to do what he doesn’t do best, which is cover a fast receiver over the top.

And if Anthony Henry’s high ankle sprain isn’t healed, Jacques Reeves will also have his hands full covering Donte’ Stallworth who has been mostly forgotten thus far but has the talent to burn any team that pays too much attention to Moss.

While both defenses are good, it will be offense that decides this game. Both teams are able to put up points, so it becomes who can put up more points. Romo has shown that he can slice and dice with the best of defenses, but he will need to be on his A game going against the Patriots. His gambling style could easily backfire against a defense known for taking every advantage.

Overall, I would say the teams are very even, but New England has a slight advantage. They’ve been under the same system for years, and it has proven to be a winning system. They are mechanical in their precision, and play smart football. That will give them a slight advantage, but they will also be playing away from home where the crowd might become a factor.

In the end, I think game will go to the team that shows up to play and the team that simply wants it more.