The Dallas Cowboys look to rebound from a tough Thursday night loss to open the season when they take on the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Dallas lost to the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-29 on a last second field goal. Meanwhile, the Chargers won their opener on the road after a 20-16 victory over The Washington Football Team.
The Chargers are currently 3.5-point favorites in this contest and several Cowboys beat writers had penciled this game in as a loss for the Cowboys even before they lost four starters in Michael Gallup, Randy Gregory, La’el Collins, and DeMarcus Lawrence. Los Angeles has won the three most recent meetings between the two teams, including a 28-6 victory back in November 2017. The Chargers had covered the spread in each of those three games.
Looking back at the Cowboys season opener, It was a great evening for the offense. Dallas produced 30 first downs and 451 yards of total offense against a formidable defensive front. Amari Cooper led the way with 13 catches for 139 yards and 2 TDs . CeeDee Lamb also contributed with seven catches for 104 yards and a score but he also had a few crucial drops throughout the game with one resulting in an interception. The passing attack was definitely on point and Dak Prescott was absolutely on fire; however, running back Ezekiel Elliott gained just 33 yards on 11 carries. The Cowboys will certainly need a bigger contribution running the ball from Zeke in this contest and I anticipate that will be the case.
Defensively against the Bucs, the Cowboys did manage to get 4 turnovers but they struggled to contain Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay offense. They gave up 431 yards of total offense, including 379 through the air. They did limit the Buccaneers to 25:33 in time of possession, but Brady threw four touchdown passes and the Cowboys could not generate any pressure on him. Anthony Brown led the team with 11 tackles but he was targeted early an often and torched by Antonio Brown who had a big day.
For the Chargers, Justin Herbert had a big day in the opener of his second NFL season. Under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, Herbert picked apart a Washington secondary that had few answers to try to slow him down. Herbert’s favorite target Keenan Allen had another big day at the office, which is par for the course for him, but his other receiver Mike Williams also had eight catches for 82 yards and a score. Utility man Austin Ekeler gained 57 yards on 15 carries on the ground and added a touchdown run. Rookie offensive tackle Rashawn Slater, who many Cowboys fans were hoping would end up being drafted by Dallas, already looked like a perennial All-Pro in his NFL debut.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Chargers had a solid afternoon allowing Washington to convert just 15 first downs and 259 total yards of offense. The Chargers held Washington to just 23:57 time of possession but didn’t generate as much pressure as they would have liked. Their primary pass rusher Joey Bosa did register a sack and he will be a major concern for the Cowboys who will be without starting right tackle La’el Collins. Terence Steele is expected to start in his place and Cowboys fans recall all to well how he struggled mightily filling in for Collins last year. Having to face a very talented and tenacious pass rusher like Bosa is going to be a big time challenge for the second year man and former undrafted free agent.
Despite the concerns around the Cowboys offensive line, the offense looked very good last week against a very good defense. Prescott looks like a quarterback who has really taken charge of this offense and he was able to get into a rhythm early, eliminating any concerns of rust after a long layoff while recovering from his season ending injury a year ago. The Los Angeles defense was able to hold down Washington in the first week, but the Cowboys offense is far superior and should have much better success.
Offensively for the Chargers, Justin Herbert presents a unique challenge with his mobility and his strong arm but he won’t get the ball out as quickly as Tom Brady did last week. The Cowboys should have a better chance at getting him on the ground even without Lawrence and Gregory in the lineup. Keenan Allen is going to be a problem for the Cowboys and will probably have another busy day at the office but Trevon Diggs may be able to shut down Mike Williams like he shut down Mike Evans last week.
Many experts and analysts within the Cowboys community are very concerned about this matchup and even more so, all of the missing starters. I believe the Cowboys will not only win this game, but they will do so comfortably.
FINAL SCORE: DALLAS COWBOYS 34 LOS ANGELES CHARGERS 21
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
