New England Patriots at Dallas Cowboys: Bigger Story Than Ezekiel Elliott 'Starter Reps'?

New England Patriots at Dallas Cowboys GAME DAY: Coach Bill Belichick Milestone a Bigger Story Than Ezekiel Elliott - Getting 'Starter Reps' - in Return?

ARLINGTON - How big a deal is it that Ezekiel Elliott is "coming home''? So big that the NFL world is ignoring a coming Bill Belichick milestone.

The Dallas Cowboys host the New England Patriots on Sunday at AT&T Stadium in a homecoming game of sorts for Patriots running back Elliott, who the Cowboys have all along suspected might get increased work here ... and it is a central NFL storyline in Week 4. But ...

Also newsworthy beyond the the reunion between Elliott and the Cowboys: Patriots coach Belichick needs one victory to become the third coach with 300 career regular-season wins. Now, onto "America's Team'' matters ...

Patriots at Cowboys

As for the Cowboys prediction on Zeke? NFL Network is now reporting that he'll get "starter reps'' in his reunion game. ... and again, Dallas is not surprised.

Meanwhile ... Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott knows that losing teammates and friends to the business of football is just that. The business of football. 

“That's part of the business,” Prescott said. “We learned that pretty quick, and then seeing him depart, it was part of it. But I'm happy for him, always pulling for him and he's doing well. Excited for him.”

Prescott and Elliott became fast friends after both came to Dallas via the 2016 NFL Draft. 

“It’s really just being thankful for the time that we’ve had together,” Prescott said. “That’s got to end at some point, whether it ends with you retiring, whether it ends with you traded and changing teams, whatever it may be. Just blessed for the time that we’ve had, the relationship that we got to create, goes well beyond our time playing.”

The Cowboys hope to re-establish the early season momentum they had before the embarrassing 28-16 road loss to the Cardinals in Week 3 - ideally with Dak's offensive line a bit more intact. (Tyron Smith, however, is out.)

Elliott wants to build on his best day as a Patriot in an 80-yard outing in a 15-10 win over the New York Jets. ... and Belichick is a master at pushing the right buttons to achieve such a thing.

WHAT: New England Patriots (1-2) at Dallas Cowboys (2-1)

WHERE: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas (100,000)

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, 3:25 p.m. CT

TELEVISION: FOX / FuboTV (try it free)

RADIO: KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan

TICKETS: SI Tickets

BETTING via SI SportsBook

SPREAD: Cowboys -6.5

TOTAL: 43.5

MONEYLINE: Patriots +230, Cowboys -300