Cowboys roundtable: Ezekiel Elliott, the Falcons game, and this week’s game vs Eagles

Every week, we gather the latest news about the Dallas Cowboys and seek our writer's perspective on each headline. Welcome back to the roundtable. This week we have Tom Ryle, Brian Martin, David Howman, RJ Ochoa and Jess Haynie.

What do you make of the Ezekiel Elliott situation? Ezekiel Elliott has been somewhat vocal about the lack of touches he's been getting in Dallas but this past week things got worse for the running back. It was reported his attitude has declined and has even been late on several occasions for meetings and practice. That led to the coaches making the decision to leave Zeke back in Dallas while the rest of team tried beat Atlanta in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The relationship took a turn for the worse and the question now is how much longer Zeke will remain in Dallas.

: I read it as an attempt to establish some accountability first. That's a good objective. But it also indicates that Zeke is not contributing much. Dowdle looked good with 75 yards in a game where Dallas was playing from behind and relying on the pass. I think they should roll with him and Cook from here on.

: In all honesty, it would probably be best for all parties concerned if the Dallas Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott parted ways. He's obviously not happy with his role this year and the Cowboys have zero incentive to play him now that they've pretty much been dominated from the postseason. The longer he stays around the more chance it becomes a cancer to the locker room.

: I see it as a microcosm of the differences between Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy right now. McCarthy has been trying to preach accountability and effort since coming to town, but Jones is more interested in big names and sentimentality. Even after the news of Elliott missing several meetings, Jones was publicly praising Elliott's work ethic and leadership. Clearly, the coach is seeing something the owner isn't, but where a functional franchise would empower the coach to manage the team, Jones is once again undermining his coach's authority in the name of keeping a fan favorite happy.

: That it became as big of a deal as it did is the actual problem. How many other teams are having headlines made because the third-best (being kind) running back on their team was going to be inactive? Why is it a mutual decision that this would be the case? We are all well-aware that things are not necessarily normal with this team, but this was far out there even for them. It is exhausting. I don't make anything of it because it is beyond the realm of what should be normal.

: Elliott probably doesn't have a job this year if not for the Cowboys, and he showed his appreciation by being late to meetings and acting entitled. That's toxic; the opposite of the veteran leadership you brought him in to provide. The only question over the next 48 hours should be who they fire first between Zeke and Mike McCarthy.

Injuries have played a part, but what went wrong with Dallas against the Atlanta Falcons last week? The Cowboys took another loss and are now on a three-game losing streak. To make matters worse, Dak Prescott is set to miss several weeks with a hamstring injury, CeeDee Lamb is considered day-to-day with a shoulder injury, the Cowboys offensive line struggled against the worst defensive line statistically in pressures as well as sacks, and the defensive line just keep going from bad to worse. The Cowboys currently own the 11th draft pick in next years NFL draft and are now 3-5.

: There are a variety of things, but one that jumped out for me was how the defense didn't seem to know their assignments. Trevon Diggs looked badly out of place at times. Overall you just have to admit that the talent level is just subpar.

: What went right for the Dallas Cowboys against Atlanta Falcons ? The Cowboys are simply just a bad team this year and there is no reason to try to sugarcoat it. Even if this team would have remained 100% healthy it probably would've made little to no difference to how things have played out for them this year.

: The same thing that's gone wrong all season: coming up short in the big moments. They couldn't block Kaden Elliss on the fourth-down jet sweep, Jake Ferguson didn't get enough of a chip on that screen pass, Trevon Diggs led with his shoulder instead of wrapping up Pitts, even Zack Martin is missing blocks on screen passes. Nobody is doing the little things well right now, which is how you end up with so many losses that easily could've been wins.

: Simply put the Falcons are a better football team than Dallas which is not a difficult thing to be right now. The Cowboys do not have the horses to run with teams in most ways so when they get down it is a tough scene. That is exactly what we saw.

: My colleagues have already said it; this is a bad team right now. We all had our doubts going into the year and injuries have compounded those well-documented weaknesses. Cameras caught Dak Prescott saying what looked like, "We [expletive] suck." He'd be right.

This weekend the Dallas Cowboys face a huge division rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. Who are the key players to watch on the Eagles roster and the key threats? This week the Cowboys are set to face division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles . The game will kickoff at 4:25 p.m (ET) and will be at AT&T Stadium. Historically, the Cowboys defeated the Eagles the last time these two teams met and Dallas has won six out the last ten competitions between the two. Dallas leads the series 74-56-0 but are seven-point underdogs coming into the week. Injuries and poor performance are helping to set such poor odds. The game will feature Cooper Rush starting for Dallas this week with Lamb uncertain with his injury.

: Can I just list position groups? The wide receivers could feast even if Bland returns. The running backs plus Hurts are likely to gash the defense. And the pass rushers have to be licking their chops at a chance to take on Cooper Rush behind an offensive line that has some real issues. It's pretty obvious who has the better roster and it's going to show.

: If I'm the Eagles, I would just use Saquon Barkley and run it down the throat of the Cowboys defense from start to finish. Dallas has been horrific against the run this season and that will probably get even worse now that they have nothing left to play for this season. I don't expect them to just roll over for the Eagles though, but I don't expect the Cowboys to make this game close either.

: I was going to make a joke about watching the top college players this weekend for draft prep, but you narrowed it down to the Eagles roster so there goes that plan. Fundamentally, these Eagles are built in the trenches, and Howie Roseman has done a great job of keeping both the offensive and defensive lines stocked with talent. Meanwhile, Dallas is at a bit of a deficit on both sides there, which is why I think this game could get ugly for the Cowboys even if CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, and DaRon Bland all play.

: Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith (we will see on A.J. Brown's injury status) clearly are the headliners. I have no reason to believe that they won't be able to do anything and everything that they want given that literally everybody else has.