The Los Angeles Chargers moved a step closer to clinching a playoff spot with a 34-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
The Chargers, who improved to 11-4 with the win, can officially clinch a postseason berth if the Houston Texans or Indianapolis Colts lose this week. The Texans are hosting the lowly Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, while the Colts host the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. Los Angeles is looking to make a second straight trip to the playoffs under coach Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers haven’t made consecutive postseason appearances since going four straight years from 2006 to 2009.
The Cowboys (6-8-1), who were eliminated from postseason contention on Saturday when the Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East, have now lost all three of their December games since their resurgent stretch in which they beat the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs — both of last year’s Super Bowl participants — in a four-day stretch.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair featuring plenty of offense, with the Chargers leading 21-17 as both teams scored on all three of their full possessions. Justin Herbert threw touchdown passes to Quentin Johnston and Ladd McConkey and scored on a quarterback sneak, while Dak Prescott had TD passes to Ryan Flournoy and George Pickens. The difference in the half was a holding penalty that negated a second Prescott-to-Flournoy touchdown and forced the Cowboys to settle for a field goal at the end of a 16-play drive.
The scoring slowed down in the second half, with the Chargers settling for a field goal on their opening drive and then forcing the Cowboys into the game’s first punt. The Chargers followed with their only punt of the day before adding another Cameron Dicker field goal to cap a long drive that consumed 8:18 off the clock. Los Angeles rookie running back Omarion Hampton added a 5-yard run for the only touchdown of the second half to give the Chargers a 34-17 lead with less than five minutes to play.
That score led the Cowboys to pull Prescott in favor of backup Joe Milton, whose only full drive ended when he fumbled at the end of a 12-yard scramble. The Cowboys also turned the ball over on downs twice in the second half as the Chargers pitched a shutout over the final two quarters for the second straight week.
Herbert finished the day 23-of-29 passing for 300 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season and first since Week 7. Prescott was 21-of-30 for 244 yards, two touchdowns and no picks and surpassed 4,000 passing yards for the season in the first half. It’s Prescott’s fourth career 4,000-yard season, tied with Tony Romo for the most in franchise history.
Herbert gets unleashed
The Chargers took advantage of a poor Cowboys defense. The offense had slogged through its last two games, wins against the Eagles and Chiefs. In Dallas, the Chargers let Herbert loose, and he carved up the Cowboys’ porous secondary. Herbert completed at least three passes to five different pass catchers. Johnston led the group with four catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Johnston was a threat attacking down the field and made excellent catches on two go-balls down the left sideline, one of them for a score in the first quarter.
Herbert also rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown. He gained 34 of those yards on a crucial third-down scramble early in the fourth quarter. The Chargers kicked a field goal later on that drive to build a two-score lead. The Chargers have much tougher tests ahead. They face two of the best defenses in the league to close to the season — the Texans in Week 17 and the Denver Broncos in Week 18. But it was nonetheless a positive sign to see the Chargers attack effectively in the passing game after an extended period of inconsistent play in that phase. — Daniel Popper, Chargers beat writer
Quentin Johnston had 104 yards receiving and a touchdown against the Cowboys. (Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
More of the same from Cowboys defense
The Dallas defense deserves some credit for a better showing in the second half, but it overall remained the Cowboys’ biggest issue Sunday afternoon. With standout defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (concussion/neck) inactive, the group was already in a tough spot. The decision to have defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus move from the sideline up to the coaching box didn’t appear to make a noticeable difference as the Chargers scored touchdowns on their first three possessions.
Prescott and the Dallas offense could have been better in the second half. But they were never winning that game with how their defense was playing. Herbert made it look too easy all day. It continues to look like the defensive side of the ball will need some offseason coaching staff changes. Entering today, no quarterback had been sacked more than Herbert this season. Forty-nine times. The Cowboys didn’t get to him once. — Jon Machota, Cowboys beat writer
Chargers defense stiffens
Defensively, the Chargers were on their heels in the first half. The Cowboys scored points on their first three possessions, a stretch capped off by a 38-yard touchdown to Pickens. The Cowboys were able to run the ball efficiently on early downs. As a result, the Chargers did not have any opportunities to rush Prescott in known-passing situations. The Cowboys faced only one third down with more than 4 yards to gain in the first half.
The Chargers tightened up in the second half, though, and kept the Cowboys off the scoreboard. The run defense improved. They got more pressure on Prescott. The game flipped late in the third quarter when the Chargers stuffed fullback Hunter Luepke on a dive play on fourth-and-1 in the red zone. The Chargers defense now has second-half shutouts in back-to-back games after also doing so against the Chiefs last week. This was just the third time this season the Cowboys’ high-powered offense failed to score 20 points. The Chargers defense passed a big test Sunday in Dallas as the team inches closer to the postseason. — Popper