Cowboys vs. Falcons: Highlights, game tracker and more

The Dallas Cowboys faced the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 12 in Week 10 of the 2017 NFL season. Here are highlights from the game.

The Dallas Cowboys enter this game without the services of two of their top offensive players in the suspended Ezekiel Elliott and the anchor of the offense line Tyron Smith due to injury. Top wide receiver Dez Bryant has been questionable for Sunday, but he’ll most likely play, but the biggest loss is that of Elliott and how the Cowboys will recover without the second-leading rusher in the NFL.

Elliott — who is averaging 4.1 yards per carry — couldn’t win this past week in court battles with the NFL and will be serving the first game of a six-game suspension in what is a very important NFC matchup for the Cowboys. Elliott has 783 yards rushing thus far this season. He’s also second in attempts with 191, and he’s tied for the league lead in rushing touchdowns with seven.

That said, the Cowboys will have Dak Prescott leading them offensively, so as long as he’s on the field, the Cowboys will have a chance to be productive. Prescott has completed nearly 63 percent of his passes, and this week there will be a lot of pressure on him without the Cowboys having Elliott. Just as important, his left tackle in Smith being ruled out could cause problems with pass protection, too.

As interesting as it will be to see how the Cowboys adjust without two top offensive starters, the Atlanta Falcons offense could have a heck of a day in front of them against a Cowboys defensive backfield that isn’t the most consistent.

The Falcons not only bring quarterback Matt Ryan — who enters Sunday’s game with over 2,100 yards passing and 11 touchdowns — to the table, but with wide receivers like Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu, that could pose a lot of issues to a Cowboys defense that is ranked 15th in passing yards allowed and 15th in points allowed.

What will win this game is whichever unit does better … the defense of the Cowboys or the offense of the Falcons.

Highlights

The winner of this game will keep themselves in both division races and maybe even more importantly in the wild card race, as a head-to-head win over a top team in the NFC could be useful if tiebreakers are needed at the conclusion of the regular season.

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The Falcons can ill afford to go under the .500 mark 10 weeks into the season, and a win by the Cowboys would make their matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles next week even more important in the NFC East standings.