California’s INGLEWOOD — The Dallas Cowboys defense came up huge in the last two minutes to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 20-17 on “Monday Night Football” after a game full of errors and flags for penalties.
The Chargers’ record slipped to 2-3, while the Cowboys’ record improved to 4-2. This was due to quarterback Justin Herbert’s perseverance despite playing with a fractured middle finger on his non-throwing hand.
Denver Broncos
The Cowboys needed any kind of victory after what transpired last week against the San Francisco 49ers; yet, a victory was needed.
Even though Monday’s victory wasn’t particularly impressive, the Cowboys enter their bye week with a 4-2 record and are still in reach of the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, who suffered shocking losses Sunday.
After last week, everything was under consideration. play-calling by Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott’s talent, and the defense’s fortitude. Nothing was perfect—there were too many penalties, too many big plays that were allowed, not enough big plays that were made, and a special teams turnover—but they made the critical plays when it counted.
Starting with three crucial third-down conversions on a drive that concluded in a field goal by Brandon Aubrey, a sack by Micah Parsons — the Cowboys’ first of the game — and a clinching interception by Stephon Gilmore.
After a loss in each of the previous two seasons, the Cowboys are suddenly 10-1.
Perhaps they are still alive.
QB breakdown: Forget Prescott’s passing statistics. He rushed, so let’s talk about that. In the first quarter, he scored on a run of 18 yards, the longest by a Cowboys quarterback since 2010. Prescott hasn’t been using his feet as much lately. In his first three years, he scored 18 running touchdowns; in the subsequent five, he has scored nine. In his first five games, he rushed for 45 yards, including 33 against the Chargers in the first half. Although he isn’t a rushing quarterback, he can be productive when using his feet and may need to do it more often.
CeeDee Lamb, a wide receiver, showed a promising trend by having 84 receiving yards in the first half, which was more than he had in four of his previous five games. After seeming irate during the San Francisco game, he stated over the following week that his body language needs to improve. In the first two quarters, all five of his catches traveled 10 or more air yards. He completed eight completions with 10 or more air yards during the New England game.
Positive: Considering it was only one game, there may not be a trend, but the Cowboys performed admirably in their first game without linebacker Leighton Vander Esch. Late in training camp, Markquese Bell switched positions from safety to linebacker when DeMarvion Overshown was sidelined for the season due to an ACL tear. When the Cowboys used two linebackers in their personnel group during the first half, he was able to produce a tackle for loss and a pass breakup on 17 snaps. The Cowboys‘ run defense struggled when Vander Esch was sidelined late in the previous season. Austin Ekeler returned from injury on Monday, but the Chargers only managed 50 yards on 22 carries.