It's rivalry week, or at least it used to be, with Dallas Cowboys (3-3) traveling east to face the NFC East-leading Washington Redskins (3-2).

While the Cowboys and Redskins have had a long and storied history together, it's been a one-sided beatdown in Dallas' favor recently. Dallas has won the last four and eight of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. The Cowboys won last season's two matchups by a combined 38 points.

The rivalry may be renewed this season, as the teams appear evenly matched on paper. On top of that, this game will likely have huge implications in each team's quest for the NFC East crown, with the top three teams in the division separated by just a half-game.

A loss won't sink either team's playoff chances, but a win could get either team an early leg up on the rest of the division.

With that being said, unlike Jason Garrett facing a fourth-and-1 in overtime, it's time to get bold.

Here are three bold predictions for the Cowboys-Redskins game.

1. DeMarcus Lawrence will record two-or-more sacks and at least three run stops

Lawrence has cooled off a bit in recently after recording 5.5 sacks in the first four weeks of the season. He's failed to record a sack in each of the last two weeks.

A pesky labrum injury may have slowed the star pass-rusher, but he's still made a positive impact for the Cowboys defense, despite what the box score may tell you.

This play is dope on so many levels. LVE reads the play & flows quickly to beat the center's block & be in position to make a play. Jaylon sprints from the back-side, outpaces his block & makes a hit on the ball carrier. DLaw totally ruins the play by beating the TE block. pic.twitter.com/LMlUlDuP50 — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 9, 2018

Look for Lawrence to get back to his dominant ways against Redskins right tackle Morgan Moses. Lawrence practiced fully Thursday, so it seems his labrum injury is more manageable.

Moses possesses quick and agile feet to go with his massive frame at 6-6 and 335 points. Unfortunately (or fortunately in Lawrence's case), Moses struggles with his hand technique and is inconsistent with his timing and placement.

I expect #DallasCowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence to have a big game against WAS. He's been slowed by injuries last couple weeks but I think he matches up well with WAS RT Morgan Moses. pic.twitter.com/3YDgjauX1n — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 18, 2018

Lawrence, on the other hand, excels with his hand timing and placement as a pass rusher. He has a stunning array of pass rush moves and hand techniques that he uses to defeat blocks on a regular basis. Lawrence will deploy a variety of swipes, chops and swim moves to defeat a blocker's strike as he blazes around the edge track to the quarterback.

Lawrence should be similarly effective in the run game. Standing three inches shorter than Moses, Lawrence will have a natural leverage advantage that should be exacerbated when Moses fatigues, where his pad level starts to rise and his hand placement becomes even more inconsistent.

I talk about DLaw's hands and footwork a lot, but he's not a bad athlete either. He has really good short area quickness#DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/9R7znmuoAf — John Owning (@JohnOwning) December 4, 2017

Lawrence is a risk-taker against the run, as he loves to backdoor blocks in an effort to make a splash play against the run. This is risky because if he misses, the running back will get to the edge unimpeded, gobbling up chunks of yards in the process. Don't be surprised if Lawrence uses his quickness to backdoor Moses when given the opportunity Sunday.

Even with the labrum injury, Lawrence is primed to take advantage of Moses on the right side. Expect Lawrence to give Moses fits all game long to the tune of multiple sacks and at least three stops against the run.

*Note: Pro Football Focus defines a run-stop as "a 'win' for the defense or conversely a 'loss' for the offense. PFF describes a 'stop' further as an offensive gain on first down that is kept to less than 40 percent of the line to gain, less than 50 percent of the line to gain on second down and any third- or fourth-down play kept without a first down or touchdown."

2. Geoff Swaim has a career-high in receiving yards

He's no Jason Witten, but after four straight games with two-plus catches and some impressive feats as a blocker, Geoff Swaim is slowly starting to morph into a legitimate No. 1 tight end for the Cowboys.

Nice job by Swaim to create some separation at the top of his route to get the first down. Swaim's improvement this season has been big. He's starting to look like a starting-quality TE. pic.twitter.com/xsHNb9JbhS — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 16, 2018

Even though the Cowboys typically target Swaim on screens and play-action rollouts, he has shown improvement in his ability to create separation at the top of routes. Swaim is starting to use his size and physicality at the top of routes, which leads to large-enough throwing windows for quarterback Dak Prescott to take advantage of.

After setting a career-high in receiving yards (55) two weeks ago against the Houston Texans, Swaim has the perfect matchup to best that mark in Washington. The Redskins have been soft against tight ends in recent years, allowing 61 receiving yards per game to tight ends in 2017, per The Quant Edge.

Washington will undoubtedly be primarily focused on stopping Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys rushing attack, meaning the Redskins will be ripe to exploit with play-action passes -- where Swaim thrives as a receiver.

Play-action draws up Telvin Smith, giving the room for Geoff Swaim to get open near the stick. #MoarPA pic.twitter.com/81Gfj5YLOH — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 15, 2018

With Washington's second-level defender being manipulated by play-action fakes, Swaim will have a plethora of opportunities to find open spaces to convert first downs for the Cowboys offense.

While Swaim isn't likely to break the game open with big plays, he could be a reliable target for Prescott in the passing game. Don't be surprised if Swaim proves to have a much larger role in the passing game this week.

3. Ezekiel Elliott will have at least two explosive runs off counter-trey concepts

The Redskins have been one of the best running defenses in the NFL, allowing just 90.2 rushing yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry. This presents an issue for a Cowboys offense that relies on their running game.

One way the Cowboys can jump-start their ground attack is with the counter-trey.

The Cowboys have seen a steady diet of 3-4 base defenses this season, as the Giants, Lions and Texans all play a good percentage of their defensive snaps with an odd-man front.

When facing 3-4 defenses, one of Dallas' most effective concepts on the ground has been the counter-trey:

I would not be surprised if DAL was very successful against WAS using the counter trey. pic.twitter.com/1ITa7DLvWA — John Owning (@JohnOwning) October 18, 2018

The counter-trey is an effective concept because it intertwines the athleticism and physicality that make the Cowboys offensive line so unique. Against a 3-4 defense, the down blocks give the play-side offensive line superior angles to wall off the three defensive linemen.

The misdirection in the backfield gives the back-side guard and tackle the time necessary to pull around into space. The back-side guard is responsible for kicking out the play-side outside linebacker while the back-side tackle leads Elliott through the hole and into the second level, where Elliott's special running ability can take over.

This is a concept that Elliott is very comfortable running, as he's been slicing and dicing through defenses using this concept since college.

Even though it's likely to be tough sledding for Dallas' rushing attack Sunday, the counter-trey can be used as a constraint (adjustment) to the Cowboys zone running game to create some explosive (10-plus yards) runs.

John Owning writes about NFL player evaluation for SportsDayDFW.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnOwning.