The Dallas Cowboys travel to the East Coast to take on the Washington Football Team in week seven NFC East showdown. Dallas is coming off of a blowout loss to the Arizona Cardinals, while Washington fell to the New York Giants by a point in week six.

These two teams, along with the Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles, make up the worst division in football this season. Currently, the Cowboys and Eagles sit atop the division with two wins but neither team looks like any kind of threat to any team outside of the divi.

Both the Cowboys and the Football Team will have quarterbacks behind center that did not begin the season as the team's starter. Dak Prescott went down with a nasty ankle injury in week five, while Washington benched Dwayne Haskins after three games. Therefore, Sunday will be a matchup of Andy Dalton versus Kyle Allen.

The two quarterbacks will have a huge say in how the matchup goes, but there are other key players on both squads that will play important roles. The Cowboys offensive line needs someone to step up in a big way, while Washington is hoping their defense is disruptive enough to prevent Dalton from getting into rhythm.

Keep a close eye on these three players during Sunday's action.

Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Cowboys

With Prescott sidelined for the remainder of the season, it is up to Ezekiel Elliott to make an impact for the Cowboys offense. As much as running the ball on early downs is looked down upon in the analytical world, Elliott has to be able to take some pressure off of Dalton.

The 2016 fourth overall draft pick is not off to his best start this season. Some of that can be attributed to the offensive line woes, but Elliott himself has struggled creating explosive plays and even taking care of the football through six games this season. This has not been the Elliott we have been accustomed to seeing through his first four seasons in the league.

I can live with turnovers if a player is making enough big plays to counter them.

However, Ezekiel Elliott has one run of 20+ yards this season.

He also lost a fumble on that run.

— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) October 20, 2020

The Cowboys will be without starters Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, and La'el Collins on the offensive line this Sunday against Washington. Both Smith and Collins are out for the year, while Martin is still in concussion protocol. That means Elliott will be tasked with finding running lanes behind an offensive line featuring the likes of Connor McGovern, Connor Williams, and Terence Steele. That is not ideal.

Look for Kellen Moore to get Elliott heavily involved in the passing game moving forward. The Cowboys running back was targeted more than 10 times against the Cardinals and could see some volume in the passing game this week as well with Dalton likely to be under constant pressure.

If the Cowboys are going to come out victorious on Sunday, they will probably need a vintage Zeke game.

Chase Young, EDGE, Washington

On the flip side of things, Chase Young leads a Washington defense that features one of the elite fronts in all of football. Young, along with 2019 first-rounder Montez Sweat, creates havoc for opposing offenses with his lengthy frame and elite pass-rushing ability.

The Ohio State product does not have the most staggering numbers — 13 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, 2 quarterback hits, and 2.5 sacks — but he is a major factor in why Washington is considered to have one of the better front sevens in all of football. He has the ability to impact the play without getting all the way to the passer.

I think we need to start keeping track of a stat called forced INTs for pass rushers because Chase Young did it again.

He forces Jones to just chuck the ball up in the air and then Kendall Fuller makes an incredible catch. Also, stop trying to block him with a TE, it won't work. pic.twitter.com/N95YryjdgK

— Nick Akridge (@PFF_NickAkridge) October 19, 2020

Without Smith and Collins protecting Dalton, the Cowboys offense is likely in store for a long day trying to contain Young, Sweat, and the remainder of the Washington front that also includes Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Ryan Kerrigan.

The Cowboys offensive line

Okay, this is kind of cheating, but still. The entire Dallas Cowboys offensive line deserves this spot because they will play a big role in how Sunday unfolds. If the line is able to hold up enough without their three best players, that will be good news for Sunday and the remainder of the season.

The more likely scenario, however, is that Dallas struggles up front, preventing Dalton to have any time to get anything going throwing the ball while also struggling to establish any kind of run game. Sunday provides an opportunity for Connor Williams to take a big jump forward in his development while also throwing rookie Tyler Biadasz and second-year Connor McGovern into a challenging environment.

Dallas will have to hold up in the trenches to have a real shot at winning this game. While the Washington offense is poor enough to keep the Cowboys in the game, the defense is strong enough to make life hard for the Cowboys offense.

If Chase Young and Montez Sweat are able to create enough havoc, there is a very good chance the Cowboys turn the ball over and give Washington good enough field position to capitalize. We will see how much the banged up Cowboys offensive line is able to hold up this week.

Featured image via Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports