FOXBORO -- Another week, another Ryan.

This past Sunday, the Patriots went up against the multiple looks of Jets coach Rex Ryan. This Sunday, Rob Ryan will bring Dallas’ freewheeling defensive style to Gillette Stadium.

Rob, who served as the linebackers coach with the Patriots from 2000 through 2003 before becoming defensive coordinator in Oakland (2004-08) and Cleveland (2009-10), joined the Cowboys as their defensive coordinator in January. Since then, Belichick said he’s left his imprint on the Dallas scheme.

“I think this is truly Rob’s package, Rob’s defense,” Belichick said. “I think there were elements of Rob in Oakland, there were elements of Rob in Cleveland. But I think this is really, the way he’s got it set up, the way his calls are organized, I think this is really, totally his package.

“They have a lot of good players. They have a good scheme. They play good technique. They’re strong, they’re physical up front and they’re fast. They don’t give up many plays. Their defensive linemen are active. They really run well. They have good team speed. They haven’t given up very many plays period -- run or pass. That one of the big reasons, they converge on the ball so quickly. They have a lot of team speed -- it’s the fastest team we’ve played this year.”

Belichick has good reason to be cautious of his former linebackers coach: The Cowboys are tops in the league against the run (allowing just 61.8 yards per game) and fourth in the league in total defense (yielding just 291.8 yards per contest). In addition, Ryan was the last defensive coordinator to hold the Patriots offense to less than 30 points in a regular-season game. That came last November when the Browns whipped New England, 34-14. (Interestingly enough, that game came immediately after the Browns’ bye week. The Patriots will be facing the Cowboys immediately following Dallas' bye.) Since the Browns game, the Patriots have run off 13 straight regular-season games in which they’ve scored 30 or more points.

Rob has always had a unique approach. In that game against the Patriots, the Browns had a handful of defensive players simply stand up on a series of snaps and not take any fixed defensive positions in an attempt to confuse New England’s offense. (The Patriots defense had used the approach a few years before in a win over the Bills in Buffalo.)

“Rob, he’s a game-plan defensive coordinator,” said offensive lineman Logan Mankins. “He thinks outside the box. He always something dialed up when he plays a team. He does that stuff because he thinks it’ll work. He’s not doing just to do it.”

On Wednesday, Dallas coach Jason Garrett said film of that game from last November was “certainly a part” of their preparation for this week.

“I think when we prepare for an opponent, you use all the resources at your disposal, and certainly you watch the most recent games and stuff from this year,” he said. “But if you have an experience when you’ve played against a team before, you certainly go back and watch that game and just see if anything continues to relate to what that offense or defense is doing. That’s certainly a part of our preparation."

While the personnel has varied over the years, there are some constants to a Rob Ryan defense, according to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

“He’s a great coach. He gets those guys playing hard,” said Brady, who’s gone 43-for-74 (58 percent) for 530 yards, four touchdowns and no picks in his two outings against Rob Ryan’s defenses. “I think they’re very talented.

“They’ve got a bunch of good skill-type players over there. Terence Newman, I played against him a bunch of times, he’s [a] phenomenal player. Michael Jenkins on the other side is great, [DeMarcus] Ware – he can get after the quarterback, so they really get pressure on the quarterback from everybody. They’ve get pressure in a three-man rush, they get pressure in a four-man rush [and] when they blitz they get pressure, so we’ve got to make sure we really stand up to them. It’s a very good defense.”

And then there’s the Ryan connection. The Ryan brothers are the last two guys who have managed to hold the New England offense under 30 points (Rob did it in the regular season, while Rex’s Jets turned the trick in the playoffs). Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien said he expects them to share a few secrets.

“Obviously, being brothers, they talk. There’s a little bit of similarity," O'Brien said. "I would definitely say Rob is his own guy as far as being a coordinator. He does a great job with what he’s doing right now.

“They’re the top-ranked defense in a lot of categories, at least in the top five in most. It’s going to be a big challenge for us. It’s a multiple defense, they do a lot of things,” O’Brien added. “There’s not going to be a lot of sleeping in Foxboro this week. We have a lot of work to do and make sure that we’re ready to go on Sunday.”