The Cowboys have seen their last two games come down to last-second field goals. Last week it resulted in a win for Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, but this time it was in Dallas’ favor. Greg Zuerlein hit a 56-yarder to cancel overtime and lift the Cowboys to a 20-17 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dallas established a 14-3 lead in the 1st Quarter and needed every bit of it over the rest of the day. The Cowboys were unable to get back to the endzone but did enough to work the clock, set up two Zuerlein field goals, and avoid huge mistakes to preserve the victory.
It was a much slower day for Dak Prescott; only 237 passing yards and no touchdowns. He also had one interception early which was clearly a bad throw, as opposed to last week’s pick that came off CeeDee Lamb’s hands.
It was Lamb who led all Dallas receivers with eight catches for 81 yards. The quiet day in general for the passing game was largely thanks to ground dominance; the Cowboys had 198 total rushing yards and Tony Pollard posting 109 of them on just 13 carries. Ezekiel Elliott added 71 yards and both he and Pollard scored one of the early touchdowns.
Dallas’ defense had its issues, sacrificing a little over 400 yards, but also made some huge plays in critical moments. Trevon Diggs got his second INT of the year to end Los Angeles’ first possession and Damontae Kazee had a huge endzone pick late in the 3rd to keep points off the board.
After failing to get any sacks against Brady last week, Dallas got to Justin Herbert twice today even with DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory out. The two sacks went to Leighton Vander Esch and Micah Parsons, who was used a lot as a pass rusher today.
The win moves Dallas to 1-1 on the year and creates a three-way tie with Philadelphia and Washington. The Football Team got a win last Thursday night over the Giants, who are now 0-2, and the Eagles lost earlier today to the 49ers.
Dallas and Philadelphia will both get an extra day off now as they prepare for a Monday Night Football showdown in Week 3. It will be the Cowboys’ first home game of 2021, and thankfully they’ll be coming into it now with some positive momentum.
