PLAYER NOTES
–RB Ezekiel Elliott has rushed for more than 100 yards in three of the last four contests, helping him stay right behind the Rams’ Todd Gurley II for the NFL rushing lead. Entering this week, Elliott has 586 yards this season, 37 behind Gurley.
–WR Cole Beasley caught nine passes for 101 yards and two TDs in the victory over Jacksonville. The TDs were his first since Week 8 of last season. He’s starting to look like a legitimate No. 1 receiver for Dallas as he now has 26 catches for 294 yards in this campaign.
–LB Leighton Vander Esch led Dallas with 11 tackles, including seven solos in the win over the Jaguars. He’s pacing the Cowboys in tackles this season with 51.
–QB Dak Prescott passed for 183 yards and rushed for 82, accounting for three touchdowns against Jacksonville. He might not climb very high in most statistical categories this season, but a performance like he came up with on Sunday is enough to propel an efficient Dallas offense.
–DE David Irving made his season debut against Jacksonville and posted two tackles, including a TFL and a QB hit. Irving was suspended for the first four games of this season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. He also missed several days of practice since being reinstated while dealing with family issues. Irving was limited in practice on Wednesday for a non-injury-related reason.
–CB Chidobe Awuzie was limited in practice on Wednesday with an ankle injury. He had to come out of the game against Houston because of the injury and played sparingly against Jacksonville.
–LB Sean Lee reinjured his hamstring and had to come out of the game against the Seahawks in Week 3. Lee didn’t practice the last two weeks, but returned to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday.
–DE Randy Gregory was limited in practice on Wednesday with a knee injury. He was effective against the Jaguars on Sunday with a sack and another TFL.
–DE DeMarcus Lawrence was limited in practice on Wednesday with the shoulder injury that has limited him in the last two games. Lawrence played in passing situations against Jacksonville and had one assisted tackle.
–WR Tavon Austin didn’t practice on Wednesday with a groin injury. Austin’s latest setback is likely to keep him out of action for several weeks and head coach Jason Garrett said the team is getting multiple medical opinions on the WR’s condition this week.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: LB Jaylon Smith is second on the Dallas defense having posted 50 tackles through the first six games and he has three sacks and a forced fumble to go along with them. Fellow linebacker Sean Lee, who missed five full games due to injury last season, is sidelined again with a hamstring injury. But the Cowboys haven’t dropped off with Lee out since Smith has been so active, along with rookie Leighton Vander Esch, who leads Dallas with 51 tackles.
GAME PLAN: When Ezekiel Elliott is churning out yards, the Cowboys have the ingredients for an efficient offense. But in order for the Cowboys to properly complement Elliott with their passing game, they have to stay ahead of the chains and create third-and-short situations on a regular basis. Any departure from that, whether it’s because Redskins defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne upset the schedule or because of penalties, then the Cowboys will struggle to score. So gaining yards on first down and playing a clean game are vital for Dallas on offense.
Defensively, Dallas has to get better against dual-threat quarterbacks. Carolina’s Cam Newton, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Houston’s Deshaun Watson all burned the Cowboys enough to post wins. The Redskins’ Alex Smith has been known as a mobile QB, but it’s not a certainly that he can keep eluding defenders in his 14th season the way he did earlier in his career. So Washington would like to get running back Adrian Peterson untracked.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Cowboys LBs vs. Redskins QB Alex Smith. Dallas has struggled on the road against dual-threat quarterbacks this season. But Smith hasn’t been terribly potent as a passer or runner so far this season. He ranks 23rd in the NFL at 241 passing yards per game and has been less effective running than in the past as he has 60 yards on 27 carries. And he’s been sacked 12 times in five games. He’s not exactly Deshaun Watson. The Redskins offense as a whole hasn’t been much better than Dallas this season as they rank 25th in the NFL at 344 yards per game. It will be up to Dallas LBs Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch to keep Smith frustrated and stop Washington from having a breakout offensive performance.
–Cowboys WRs vs. Redskins DBs. Washington has a star cornerback in 2015 All-Pro Josh Norman, but Dallas showed last week that it can confuse a standout corner by not having a clear No. 1 receiver. Jacksonville and Jalen Ramsey came into Dallas last week and couldn’t stop the Cowboys passing game from posting its best game of this campaign. Cowboys WR Cole Beasley caught nine 9 passes for 101 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win over the Jaguars. But Beasley, at 5-8, isn’t the typical No. 1 target. Will Washington learn from Jacksonville’s struggles or will Dallas stay efficient in the passing game?