From a postseason perspective, the Dallas Cowboys saw any hopes of a miracle come to an end last night with the Philadelphia Eagles winning the NFC East. For some, that fact will make their Week 16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers sweeter.
Losing 34-17, Dallas fell to 6-8-1 on the year, which improved their draft position while marking a new low for the team this season. It is the Cowboys’ third straight loss.
This was, once again, a loss that came at the hands of nearly all levels for Dallas. Offensively, the unit collapsed in the second half, and defensively, it was a disaster throughout. If you needed any evidence that this 2025 roster is bad, you got it today.
Here, I’ll recap the Cowboys’ Week 16 loss with a closer look at each unit’s performance against the now 11–4 Chargers.
Hot Start, Ice Cold Finish For The Cowboys Offense
This game looked like a good old-fashioned Cowboys shootout to start; that did not last as the game dragged on.
Receiving the ball first, Dallas opened this game up with a beautiful 10-play, 79-yard drive. It was a consistent dosage of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens to bring the team downfield, before Ryan Flournoy finished it off with a score.
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They were limited overall to just three real possessions in the first half, as both teams drained the clock, but all three resulted in scores from Dallas.
First came a 16-play drive that ended in a 33-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal, and a 4-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to Pickens capped the third offensive drive off.
In the second half, the Cowboys’ offensive possessions went as follows: punt, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, turnover on a fumble. That final fumble drive came at the hands of backup quarterback Joe Milton, who took off to run, refused to slide, and paid the price.
Overall, the team scored 17 in the first half and 0 in the second. That won’t win you many games.
Another Poor Performance On Defense In Dallas
What can you say on the defensive side that hasn’t been said a million times this season? It was just an abysmal performance, even with Matt Eberflus moving to the box.
Dallas was sliced and diced by Justin Herbert & Co. for the entirety of this game, allowing at least one score in each of the four quarters.
The Chargers scored three touchdowns on their first three drives; in order, they were 66 yards on six plays, 87 yards on seven plays, and 81 yards on an absurd 16 plays from scrimmage. Talk about a disastrous first half.
In the second half, Los Angeles punted just once and added two field goals and a touchdown to their final score; that brought them up to 34 points.
In total, the Chargers had 452 offensive yards and were 7/11 on third-down conversions. Dallas had zero sacks, just three tackles for loss, allowed 152 yards on the ground and 300 through the air.
In short, that was just terrible to watch.
Bounce-Back Effort On Special Teams After Missed Kicks In Week 15
On special teams, Aubrey bounced back after a rare down week against the Vikings. He went 1/1 on field goals and 2/2 on extra points on a limited-usage day. His kicking-game counterpart, Bryan Anger, hit his sole punt for 42 yards.
KaVontae Turpin, who has struggled mightily in recent weeks, was essentially average on his six kick returns today.
He brought six back for 148 yards, which came out to a decent 24.7 per return.
Next week, Dallas will begin their season-finale of two road games with a Week 17 date with the Commanders in Washington D.C., before traveling north again in Week 18 to face the Giants.
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