The Dallas Cowboys have lost four of their last five games and seven out of their last ten. To say things have gone off the rails following a promising 3-0 start would be an understatement to put it lightly. While Jason Garrett has received the brunt of the criticism, the team's problems go beyond the head coach.

This Cowboys team leads the league in dropped passes, missed tackles, and missed field goals. In short, as Jason Garrett would say, the team has performed below expectations in all three phases of the game, shaving a once comfortable lead in the NFC East down to nothing as the Philadelphia Eagles have pulled into a virtual tie within the division.

While the stage may be setting itself for a winner-take all week 16 match up between the Cowboys at Eagles in Philadelphia, Dallas is reeling right now and in the midst its a second three-game losing skid this season. A loss to the Los Angeles Rams may not sink the season completely but it would further stack the deck against Garrett and his team heading into the most crucial game of the season next week.

A win at home against the 8-5 Rams would go a long way toward repairing the team's shaken confidence, but to do so they'll need big performances out of their leads.

According to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will be playing Sunday with a sprained left wrist and an injured right index finger on his throwing hand. While the injuries will be taped during the game, Dak insists they will not impact his throws.

While Prescott's reassurance is nice, it is worth noting he said in the week leading up to the Patriots game that he wouldn't need a glove in the cold, wet conditions of Foxborough, only to then change his mind mid-way through the second quarter after a poor start. To offset this potential disadvantage, Dallas will likely lean on their All Pro running back, Ezekiel Elliott early and often against the Rams' front.

Elliott, while on pace for the fewest touches of his career in a 16-game season, is currently 5th in the league in rushing at 1,071 yards. This is in spite of the fact that he hasn't reached the century mark (100 yards+) since Dallas's 37-18 victory in New York against the Giants at the very start of November. During that span, he's averaged 17.6 carries per game for just 66 yards (3.75 avg), though he has been trending upward the past two weeks.

Assuming Dallas doesn't fall behind by a sizable margin again, he should get enough touches to make a noteworthy impact on the game. He and Dak should also be helped out by the fact that Amari Cooper plays like a certified All Pro whenever Dallas has a home game.

When playing at AT&T Stadium this season, Amari Cooper has amassed 47 receptions for 758 yards and 5 touchdowns. That's 7.83 catches for 126.3 yards on average. Compare that to his 3.9 receptions/game on the road and 42.3 yard average with just 3 total touchdowns and you begin to understand how Jekyll and Hyde his play has been.

As last season showed, when Cooper is making plays, Dak, Zeke, and the offense as a whole all play at a higher level. Without that, Dallas tends to struggle mightily. Banged up or not, Amari will be playing in front of the home crowd this Sunday, and that has the potential for a huge game.

It'll require more than just the offense to pull off a win, of course. The Dallas defense has been terrible as of late and will require big games out of leaders like DeMarcus Lawrence and Robert Quinn in order to get pressure on Jared Goff and stop the bleeding.

Dallas will also have to hope for a strong debut out of the newly signed Kai Forbath in place of the recently released Brett Maher. Maher has missed several big kicks during this Cowboys slide and thus contributed to significant momentum swings. Forbath and his 86% career mark may be called upon in a big moment to help Dallas get over the hump and right the ship.

The Cowboys have no one but themselves to blame for their current situation but this is a talented roster who has shown itself capable of winning big games nonetheless. If the many pieces comprising its foundation are worth their salt, they'll step up and play their best football down the stretch.