Updated

The New England Patriots are coming off of their bye week and have a matchup with the depleted Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. While the Cowboys won't have Tony Romo or Dez Bryant on offense, Bill Belichick isn't overlooking Dallas.

"I thought he did a good job for them last week," Belichick said of Brandon Weeden via WEEI. "It obviously didn't quite work out there but they moved the ball, they scored a lot of points. He did a good job of getting the ball to his outlet receivers, used the backs well."

Weeden isn't Romo, but he also hasn't played terribly. Weeden's completed 76 percent of his passes since taking over for Romo, which is tops in the league for players with at least 40 pass attempts. He has yet to win in Dallas, but he's played surprisingly well.

"They had a lot of production. He'€™s an experienced player," Belichick said. "They have a great offensive line. They have good skill players. They have really good backs, a lot of depth in their backfield. I think he'€™s done a good job of utilizing those guys. They'€™re a good football team. I know they'€™ve lost a couple key players, but they'€™ll be getting some more guys back next week, and they'€™ve got a lot of players to work with.

"It'€™s going to be a big challenge for us. They'€™re very good in the kicking game, tough team defensively, and a lot of explosive players on the offensive side of the ball. It will be tough."

Belichick hits on very valid points, but the absence of Bryant and Romo has clearly hurt Dallas. They're 0-2 without Romo and won't have him back until late in the season. Right now, though, the Patriots are preparing for Weeden and the rest of the Cowboys available to play.

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