Stephon Gilmore picks off Justin Herbert to seal Cowboys’ win
🏈 Cowboys 20, Chargers 17 — FINAL
The Chargers’ first appearance in prime time this season ended in a spotlight of disappointment.
Under pressure, Justin Herbert was intercepted by Dallas’ Stephon Gilmore in the final 90 seconds to end the Chargers’ last possession and cap a Cowboys’ victory at SoFi Stadium.
The Chargers had third-and-10 at their 25-yard line when Herbert was picked off. On the play before the interception, Herbert was sacked by Micah Parsons for an eight-yard loss.
The defeat ended the Chargers’ two-game winning streak and dropped them to 2-3. Dallas improved to 4-2.
The Cowboys took a 20-17 lead on a 39-yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey with 2:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. The boot finished a 14-play, 54-yard drive.
Dallas converted three third downs during the possession — one on an illegal contact penalty on cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor, one on a Dak Prescott completion to CeeDee Lamb and one on a pass to Brandin Cooks.
Herbert completed 22 of 37 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. Prescott finished 21 of 30 for 272 yards and a touchdown.
Keenan Allen made seven catches for 85 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers and CeeDee Lamb led Cowboys receivers with seven catches for 117 yards.
Cowboys retake lead on field goal in fourth quarter
🏈 Cowboys 20, Chargers 17 — 2:19 left in the fourth quarter
Dak Prescott failed to connect with Tony Pollard in the end zone as the Cowboys settled for a 39-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey to give Dallas a late lead.
An 18-yard catch from CeeDee Lamb helped fuel the 14-play, 54-yard drive.
Dallas was facing third-and-18 early in the drive when the Chargers were called for a pair of illegal contact penalties on Michael Davis and Ja’Sir Taylor to give the Cowboys a first down. The Chargers have been called for nine penalties for 79 yards tonight.
The Chargers will try to mount a comeback behind Justin Herbert. They are out of timeouts.
Chargers capitalize on botched Cowboys punt return to tie game
🏈 Cowboys 17, Chargers 17 — 7:11 left in the fourth quarter
The Chargers got a major break, and they capitalized in spectacular fashion.
Justin Herbert threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Everett on fourth down to tie the game. The touchdown came after Amen Ogbongbemiga recovered the ball on a botched Cowboys punt return, giving the Chargers the ball at the Dallas 30. Referees initially ruled it was the Cowboys’ ball before the call was reversed upon review.
A pass interference penalty on Dallas cornerback Stephen Gilmore put the ball inside the 10. From there, the Chargers nearly didn’t make it, with Dallas safety Markquese Bell stopping Austin Ekeler at the one on third down before the touchdown throw.
Suffice to say, Chargers fans were very excited by the fourth-down touchdown.
Brandin Cooks touchdown catch gives Cowboys 17-10 lead
🏈 Cowboys 17, Chargers 10 — 11:19 left in the fourth quarter
Brandin Cooks caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to thrust the Dallas Cowboys back into the lead.
Cooks’ first touchdown came after Dallas running back Tony Pollard picked up 60 yards after making a short catch and spinning free from a Michael Davis tackle. Asante Samuel Jr. stopped him from scoring, but a 15-yard reception from CeeDee Lamb set up Cooks’ first touchdown of the season.
Prescott made a pair of incredible throws on Pollard’s 60-yard run-and-catch and the Cooks touchdown catch. He managed to escape pressure and throw across the middle to Pollard, then threw across himself while backpeddaling to find Cooks on a perfectly placed throw.
Chargers tie game on Cameron Dicker field goal
🏈 Cowboys 10, Chargers 10 — 1:08 left in the third quarter
The Chargers failed to punch it in, settling for a 24-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker to tie the game.
Keenan Allen helped fuel the 10-play, 43-yard drive with a 23-yard reception. Once the Chargers got inside the Dallas 10, everything stalled. Justin Herbert failed to connect with a double-covered Donald Parham Jr. in the end zone on third down, and coach Brandon Staley opted to go the safe route with the field-goal try after his failed fourth-down gamble earlier in the quarter.
Chargers safety Raheem Layne sustained a knee injury on a punt return and had to be assisted by two trainers as he limped to the locker room. He is listed as questionable to return.
Chargers come up empty on Brandon Staley fourth-down gamble
🏈 Cowboys 10, Chargers 7 — 7:35 left in the third quarter
Not discouraged by the Cowboys’ fourth-down failure earlier in the game, Chargers coach Brandon Staley made his own fourth-down gamble — and failed.
After Justin Herbert fell just short of a first down on a gutsy, nine-yard run, Herbert tried to connect with Joshua Palmer for a seven-yard touchdown pass only for DaRon Bland to break up the play.
The Chargers have come up empty on their last five possessions.
Cowboys field goal gives them a 10-7 lead at halftime
🏈 Cowboys 10, Chargers 7 — Halftime
Brandon Aubrey kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game.
The Cowboys’ six-play, 57-yard drive over the final 59 seconds ran out of time. It was pulled into field-goal range when a 15-yard catch by Jake Ferguson turned into a 30-yard play when Derwin James Jr. hit Ferguson in the head for unnecessary roughness penalty.
The Cowboys could have taken the lead earlier in the quarter but came empty-handed when the Chargers stuffed Dak Prescott on a fourth-and-one push on the L.A. 13. Luckily for Dallas, the Chargers couldn’t respond, with Dante Fowler Jr. getting a hand on Herbert’s arm as the QB tried to air out a deep third-down pass.
The Chargers, after scoring on their first possession of the game, punted on four consecutive possessions.
Herbert has completed 11 of 18 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Prescott is 15 for 20 for 161 yards along with 33 yards and a touchdown in four carries.
Dallas has held the Chargers to just 19 rushing yards in 10 carries. Khalil Mack and Morgan Fox each had a sack in the first half.
Justin Herbert is so good he catches his own passes
🏈 Cowboys 7, Chargers 7 — 11:35 left in the second quarter
The Chargers’ latest drive fizzled at midfield, but not before Justin Herbert pulled off a highlight-reel-worthy play.
Herbert actually caught one of his own passes — after it was deflected by Dallas defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence — and then ran 10 yards for a first down.
The Chargers made good progress on the drive despite starting from their two-yard line. However, even a pair of Dallas penalties wasn’t enough to help them keep the drive alive.
The good news for Chargers fans? They held the Cowboys to three-and-out on the ensuing possession.
Dak Prescott and Cowboys strike back quickly to tie game
🏈 Cowboys 7, Chargers 7 — 6:21 left in the first quarter
With Cowboys fans roaring in approval at SoFi Stadium, Dak Prescott scored on a 18-yard run on fourth down to cap a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive and tie the game.
CeeDee Lamb made catches of 11 and 23 yards to jump start the drive before Prescott fooled the Chargers’ secondary with an impressive, weaving run to the end zone.
Chargers score touchdown on impressive opening drive
🏈 Chargers 7, Cowboys 0 — 10:31 left in the first quarter
The Kellen Moore revenge game is off to a fast start for the Chargers.
Keenan Allen caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert to cap an impressive opening drive for the Chargers.
Khalil Mack sacked Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott on third down to end the Cowboys’ first possession, and rookie Derius Davis returned the ensuing punt 26 yards to give the Chargers excellent field position at the Dallas 42.
Gerald Everett followed with a 15-yard catch on a play-action pass before Austin Ekeler broke out a 28-yard catch-and-run to set up Allen’s touchdown.
Chargers and Cowboys players get into a pregame skirmish
Players on the Chargers and Cowboys got into a scuffle during warmups at SoFi Stadium ahead of their Monday Night Football game.
Several players started shouting at one another before grabbing and shoving. Other players, coaches and referees moved in quickly to break up the altercation.
The Chargers said on Saturday they’re expecting a tough game against the Cowboys after they were “embarrassed” by the San Francisco 49ers in a blowout loss last week.
Chargers have played more close games than rest of NFL. How that helps vs. Cowboys
He had put away the game minutes earlier and now was trying to put context to the Chargers’ recent reality.
Of the two, securing a 51-yard, third-down converting pass from Justin Herbert in the closing minutes against Las Vegas was probably the easier endeavor.
Surrounded by reporters in the winning locker room two weeks ago, Joshua Palmer called it “quite frustrating” that his team seems committed to playing only breath-stealing games decided in frantic, frenzied fourth quarters.
If not later than that.
“We know we can defeat these teams easily,” Palmer explained after practice several days later. “When it’s close and you see all the little things that we didn’t do in the moment, it’s like, ‘Dang, if we just had done this or just done that.’ But it’s the game, right? That’s sports.”
Joey Bosa set to play for Chargers against Cowboys
Here are the Chargers’ inactives for Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys at SoFi Stadium:
Edge rusher Joey Bosa (toe), wide receiver Joshua Palmer (groin), tight end Donald Parham Jr. (wrist) and defensive lineman Nick Williams (back) are all active after being designated as questionable on Saturday.
Justin Herbert’s fractured finger could alter Chargers’ game plan against Cowboys
The Chargers’ most important right hand belongs to Justin Herbert, who, nevertheless, fielded several questions Thursday about his left hand.
Specifically, the quarterback was quizzed about his left middle finger, which was fractured Oct. 1 in a victory over Las Vegas.
The injury didn’t prevent Herbert from finishing the game against the Raiders without missing a snap and, he said, shouldn’t impact his play moving forward, starting with Monday night against Dallas.
Chargers expecting a tough game against ‘pissed off’ and ‘embarrassed’ Cowboys
The challenge already figured to be significant enough, what with Micah Parsons and Dak Prescott and the weight of America’s Team descending on SoFi Stadium.
Then the Dallas Cowboys went to Santa Clara and lost to San Francisco in a prime-team pummeling during which they were mocked by everything from the scoreboard’s numbers to George Kittle’s T-shirt.
Now, the Chargers get the Cowboys on the rebound, recoiling from a 32-point loss so sobering that Prescott, in explaining the need to bounce back, told reporters in Dallas, “You don’t have time in this league to have a hangover.”
Chargers vs. Cowboys matchups: How to watch, matchups, prediction
Breaking down how the Chargers (2-2) and the Dallas Cowboys (3-2) match up heading into their Monday Night Football game beginning 5:15 p.m. PDT at SoFi Stadium. The game will be shown on ESPN, and locally on ABC.
When Chargers have the ball
Justin Herbert is coming off a victory over Las Vegas but also a performance that saw him set single-game career lows in attempts (24), completions (13) and passing yards (167). The Chargers beat the Raiders 24-17 despite not scoring on their final seven possessions, one that closed out the first half with a kneel down and another that finished the game with three kneel downs.