USA TODAY Sports Weekly

Rams (8-5) at Cowboys (6-7)

- K.D. Drummond

Rams schedule

W ...... at Carolina ...... 30-27 W ..... New Orleans ..... 27-9 W .... at Cleveland .... 20-13 L ...... TampaBay ...... 55-40 L ....... atSeattle ....... 30-29 L ..... San Francisco ..... 20-7 W ...... atAtlanta ...... 37-10 W Cincinnati (Lon.) 24-10

BYE

L .... atPittsbur­gh .... 17-12 W ......... Chicago ......... 17-7 L ......... Baltimore ......... 45-6 W ....... atArizona ....... 34-7 W ......... Seattle ......... 28-12 Dec. 15 .... at Dallas .... 4:25 Dec. 21 ........ at SF ........ 8:15 Dec. 29 Arizona Rams 4:25

Cowboys schedule

W ...... N.Y. Giants ...... 35-17 W .. at Washington .. 31-21 W ........... Miami ........... 31-6 L ..atNewOrlea­ns ..12-10 L ....... GreenBay ....... 34-24 L ....... at N.Y. Jets ....... 24-22 W .... Philadelph­ia .... 37-10

BYE

W .... at N.Y. Giants .... 37-18 L ....... Minnesota ....... 28-24 W ....... at Detroit ....... 35-27 L ...atNewEngla­nd ...13-9 L .......... Buffalo .......... 26-15 L ....... at Chicago ....... 31-24 Dec. 15 ... L.A. Rams ... 4:25 Dec. 22 at Philadelph­ia 4:25 Dec. 29 ... Washington .... 1

Sunday, 4:25 pm ET, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

TV: Fox

Danny Sheridan’s by 3

Rams’ keys to victory: It appears the pitch count for RB Todd Gurley is over, as he’s played a key role for the Los Angeles offense the past several weeks. Keeping him involved will reduce the pressure on QB Jared Goff. On defense, DT Aaron Donald has the advantage over the combinatio­n of C Travis Frederick and veteran G Xavier Su’a-Filo and could create havoc.

Cowboys’ keys to victory: The offense of coordinato­r Kellen Moore has started games slowly, causing an almost weekly need for a furious comeback. In the past two weeks, the scripted 15 opening-game plays have been successful, but then the offense has reverted. QB Dak Prescott will need to overcome injuries to both hands and provide accurate throws. He has a productive receiving quartet in WRs Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb and TE Jason Witten. Dallas also needs better kicking help; they waived Brett Maher and signed Kai Forbath. Maher missed four field goal attempts in the last three weeks.

Matchup to watch: Cowboys’ Cooper vs. Rams CB Jalen Ramsey. The Rams acquired Ramsey midseason for matchups like this, and the No. 5 overall pick from the 2016 draft likely will shadow the No. 4 pick from the previous year. Cooper has played much more effectivel­y at home this season. Meantime, Ramsey knows very well Dallas drafted RB Ezekiel Elliott instead of him.

Who wins? Rams head coach Sean McVay will try to scheme around Goff ’s deficiencies and take advantage of a Cowboys team that is allowing a lot of points.

Rams, 34-27 line:

Cowboys

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