Bill Parcells' offense had no answer for Bill Belichick's vaunted defense. Al Bello/Getty Images

FOXBORO, Mass. -- Between them, they didn't gain a single yard, throw a block or manage so much as a half-hearted hit. But still they loomed over this affair like a pair of matching Goodyear blimps, overshadowing the game itself.

Ah, but what could be better than a Sunday night twin-Bill in New England, starring Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick?

Especially when the former protégé takes his one-time mentor to school, teaching the old master a thing or two about winning football.

The bottom line in this well-hyped Battle of the Bills? Until further notice, Belichick's uncanny ability to consistently churn out great defenses trumps Parcells' remarkable ability to cajole and squeeze the best out of every player on his entire overachieving roster.

At least on this night it did, as New England stuffed Dallas 12-0 in a game that didn't seem that close.

"The offense did just enough and the defense pretty much went into the game saying if [the Cowboys] don't score, they can't win. They can't beat us,'' Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said. "It comes down to making plays, and guys winning one-on-one battles. Ultimately, that's what our guys are doing right now.''

The one-on-one battle that everyone wanted to talk about before the game involved the two high-profile head coaches who worked together in three different NFL locales. But the matchup that settled the outcome was the Patriots' suffocating secondary, which is getting better with every passing week (pun intended), bottling up Quincy Carter.

New England picked off Carter three times, held him to 210 yards passing, and sent him home embarrassed by his 38.0 quarterback rating. Dallas' struggling offense was blunted at every key moment in the game, as the Patriots reminded all concerned that defense is still the calling card in New England.

"We knew it was going to be a defensive game,'' said Patriots cornerback Ty Law, who had two of his team's three interceptions. "We kind of go into a game knowing it's going to come down on our shoulders. Once we line up, it's about the players.

"I've been saying all week, of course it's fun to talk about [the coaches]. It is a story. But those guys aren't playing. They're over there making calls, and it is going to come down to X's and O's sooner or later. That's why I thought we had the edge. With all respect to Coach Parcells, we were just the better team today.''

With the better coach and the better game plan, to boot. In many ways, Belichick beat Parcells at his own game: play it smart and safe on offense, letting his defense force the other team into key errors. New England never made those mistakes. Dallas did.

"I think this team is taking on the theme each week of doing what we need to do to,'' said Belichick, whose Patriots have won six in a row and eight of nine since losing their opener at Buffalo. "Some weeks it means [playing] some different types of game, but we just are finding a way to win.

"I think that game was about what we expected tonight. a tough, hard-fought game. A really physical game. I can't say enough about the players. Obviously, you don't often shut a team out in this league. We've got a lot of players playing well.''

In recording their first shutout since Sept. 15, 1996, the Patriots tied the franchise's best 10-game start (8-2), also accomplished in 1978. On the flip side, it was just the third shutout that a Parcells-coached team has suffered in his 244 regular-season NFL games, but second in four weeks.

The Cowboys offense simply isn't pulling its weight these days. Dallas came up punchless in its last big game, too, losing 16-0 at Tampa Bay in Week 8. In their past four games, the Cowboys have averaged just 7.8 points and somehow still managed to win twice.

"They played a lot better than we did tonight,'' said Parcells, whose Cowboys dropped to 7-3 and into a first-place tie with surging Philadelphia in the NFC East. "We just didn't give ourselves a chance to win the game. We just kind of self-destructed.''

One play Sunday told much of the story of how adept the Patriots' defense has become this season. This is a unit that seemingly is never out of position and consistently gives itself every chance to make a play.

With New England leading 9-0 and less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Dallas was on the move, driving to a first down at the Patriots' 19 -- its deepest penetration to that point. But on the following play, Carter got strong up-the-gut pressure from Willie McGinest and was flushed out of the pocket to the right. Throwing off his back foot, Carter launched a pass in the direction of tight end Jason Witten, who was being covered, interestingly enough, by the Patriots' best pass defender, Law.

Carter's pass wasn't bad, but it was a bit to Witten's right, and as he turned to make the catch, the ball sailed through his hands and into the waiting arms of the ever-present Law, who was just a yard behind Witten. Presto. A drive-killing interception when the Cowboys could least afford it, and the Patriots had reasserted their defensive dominance.

A fourth-quarter interception by cornerback Tyrone Poole blunted another Cowboys drive, and Dallas' last best hope evaporated when Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi knifed in to drop running back Troy Hambrick for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-inches from the Dallas 48 with 9:21 remaining.

"I think they're strong,'' Parcells said. "I think they're a good team, I really do. I think they've got a good shot ... I'm not anointing them, but I think they've got a good team compared to what we've been playing against and what we've seen.''

Though Dallas outgained New England 291-268 and produced three more first downs (17-14), the Patriots won all the key battles. Hambrick was limited to 41 yards on 16 carries, with a long gain of 8 yards, and Dallas' leading receiver, Terry Glenn, was invisible, recording one catch for 8 yards.

With Cowboys receiver Joey Galloway missing the game with a sore left quad, New England prioritized taking away Glenn, the former Patriot who made headlines last week by saying he "hates'' everything about New England.

"We were just making sure we put our hands on him, just paying attention to him,'' Harrison said. "When he gets the ball in his hands, he can hurt you. But our cornerbacks are playing well -- Tyrone Poole and Ty Law. They're playing better than any other corner tandem in the league.''

But then, Sunday night was really only about one tandem: Parcells and Belichick, who won a combined three Super Bowl rings as head coaches. Parcells gave his former assistant a congratulatory hug at midfield after the game, but maybe the most entertaining theatre of the night came in the pregame, when the duo did their own little tango without ever coming close to one another.

With every eye in the house on his every move, Parcells paced near his 40-yard line, all the while facing toward the Patriots as they went through their stretching routine. At least 30 yards away stood Belichick, showing no inclination to move a muscle toward midfield for even a cursory reunion with his longtime boss. The temperature at kickoff was 33 degrees, but it looked considerably icier in the vicinity of Belichick and Parcells.

No matter. Both men know a lot of different ways to win a football game, but on Sunday, only one of them could. It was Belichick's night, and the Patriots' winning margin didn't even accurately reflect the triumph of his methodology.

"I think we've got the best coach in the league,'' Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel said. "I think that was proven again tonight.''

Maybe, maybe not. But after Sunday's Bill Bowl this much is clearer than ever: Belichick and Parcells share more than a first name.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.