After an embarrassing Week 5 loss, the Cowboys bounced back on Monday with a close win over the Chargers — and former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
LOS ANGELES — This week’s Monday Night Football matchup was hotly anticipated for a few reasons.
On one side, you had the Dallas Cowboys looking to redeem their 42-10 loss at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5. On the other, you had the Los Angeles Chargers looking to get their season going following a bye week and a 2-2 start to the season.
Then there was, well, the Kellen Moore of it all.
Last season, Moore was the offensive coordinator for the Cowboys. This year, after having been pretty unceremoniously relieved of his duties, he holds that same post for the Chargers. Meanwhile, his old boss in Dallas — head coach Mike McCarthy — is now calling the plays in Moore’s stead for the Cowboys.
But for all the chatter coming into this week about how this game would be personal for both squads because of the Moore storyline, the start of Monday night’s contest didn’t boast anywhere near the offensive flash that most expected these teams to be so eager to display.
In the end, the Cowboys won the game 20-17, and improved their record to 4-2 on the season. And most of the action was held up until the end, too.
Prior to the start of the fourth, the Cowboys’ lone touchdown had come on an 18-yard Dak Prescott scramble. In another Cowboys red zone trip, the team turned the ball over on downs. The team’s only other scoring output? It came courtesy of kicker Brandon Aubrey, who registered a field goal in the final seconds of the first half. Aside from a few flourishes, there was little payoff to be had for all the anticipated action.
For their part, the Chargers too had trouble getting much offense going themselves in the game’s early goings, with their lone touchdown of the first three quarters coming on a one-yard pass from Justin Herbert to Keenan Allen. As with the Cowboys, the Chargers too kicked in a field goal to bolster their meager output through three frames.
Through three quarters of play, the most exciting moment of the night might’ve actually been a pregame skirmish that saw each team jawing at and jostling with one another.
And then, well, the fourth quarter started — and some bona fide on-field fireworks followed.
To start the fourth, the Cowboys, at least, caught a little momentum with their drive to start the fourth quarter — many thanks to running back Tony Pollard. First, after Prescott narrowly avoided a sack, he connected with Pollard on a pass out of the backfield that the fifth-year runner then extended into a 60-yard play. Later, as the Cowboys inched nearer to pay dirt, Pollard picked up a weakside blitz from the Chargers defense with a strong backfield block that afforded Prescott the time to find Brandin Cooks in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown pass.
The score gave the Cowboys a 17-10 lead with less than 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
The fourth quarter fireworks continued from there: After initially stopping the Chargers’ drive in response to that touchdown, the Cowboys’ special teams undercut that defensive stand when a muffed punt gave Los Angeles possession of the ball in the Cowboys’ red zone. That Dallas mistake was then followed by another: A Stephon Gilmore pass interference call gave Los Angeles the ball near the goal line, and while it took L.A. four whole downs to do so, quarterback Justin Herbert eventually tied things up by finding Gerald Everett in the end zone with a one-yard touchdown pass.
That tied the game 17-17 with just over seven minutes left to play.
The Cowboys almost excitedly responded to that TD score with one of their own following their ensuing march down the field — but Tony Pollard couldn’t reel in a touchdown throw from Prescott on a wheel route that found him beating his defender down the field.
McCarthy then called on Aubrey to clean up that mess with another field goal attempt — his 16th successful effort in as many attempts on the year, turns out.
That 20-17 score would hold through the final whistle thanks to a Micah Parsons sack on Herbert that immediately preceded a Stephon Gilmore interception that would seal the game during the Chargers’ attempt at a game-winning drive.
The win puts the Cowboys’ record at 4-2 on the season.
After a bye next week, the Cowboys will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 29, by hosting another Los Angeles team — this time, it’ll be the Rams — at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
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