INGLEWOOD-Calif: Finally, the Dallas Cowboys were on their knees, simultaneously thanking God and running out the clock.
Cowboys 20, Chargers 17, by the skin of their teeth.
But, as we've learned in today's NFL - actually, even in this Week 6 of the NFL - a win is a win is a win.
Cowboys 20, Chargers 17, by the skin of their teeth.But, as we've learned in today's NFL - actually, even in this Week 6 of the NFL - a win is a win is a win.
Ask the Philadelphia Eagles, who were defeated 20-14 by the New York Jets in their season opening. Ask the previously unstoppable San Francisco 49ers, who one week were on top of the world as the best team in football after a 42-10 destroying of the Dallas Cowboys, only to be humbled by the Cleveland Browns, 19-17, on Sunday, suffering their first loss of the season. So, after that heartbreaking defeat to San Francisco just eight days ago, the Cowboys awoke Tuesday morning 4-2 moving into their bye week, one game behind the Eagles in the NFC East and one game behind the 5-1 Niners, Lions, and Eagles for the best record in the NFC overall.
The Cowboys will now rest in the seventh week of the season. Although they are not resting on their laurels, since their triumph Monday night at SoFi Stadium was far from amazing.
"We did enough to win," said head coach Mike McCarthy, later crediting his players for showing "a tremendous amount of grit."
That much should be given to the Cowboys. They had to overcome another sluggish start, falling behind 7-0 right away. They had to overcome giving away a 17-10 lead with 7:11 played in the game, which was set up by a typical Keystone Cops move, trying to regain a punt that wasn't muffed, setting up the Chargers but 20 yards from the goal line.
Also, the Cowboys scored just 20 points against the NFL's 31st ranked defense and 32nd against the pass, barely enough to secure what veteran defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence called a "most crucial win." Because the last thing they required was
Instead, they escaped a still-struggling offense that McCarthy could only describe as "we're getting there," thanks to some late-arriving first responders.
Take, for example, Brandon Aubrey, the rookie kicker who scored his 15th and 16th straight field goals to start the season, the 16th from 39 yards out the eventual game winner with 2:19 remaining. And don't take it for granted after San Francisco rookie kicker Jake Moody missed a walk-off winner from 41 yards out.
"He's as soft as butter." "He's 'Butter' Aubrey," Dak Prescott remarked of the former soccer player. "He's smooth."
No joke, and this was his first attempt at a game-winning field goal in his NFL career.
Dak, the eighth-year veteran, was impressive.
Following a poor performance the week before, Dak rebounded to complete 21-of-30 passes for a season-high 272 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a QB rating of 109.3. In addition, a scrambling toss to a streaking-across Tony Pollard, who carried the ball for 60 yards to the Los Angeles 16, got the Cowboys out of a third-and-11 situation and provided the impetus for the game-winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter, was hidden inside.
Then there was Micah Parsons, who was forced to play both defensive end and linebacker after the Cowboys had to place Leighton Vander Esch on injured reserve. He eventually, finally sacked Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert with 1:29 left in the game, after the Cowboys had seized a 20-17 lead. This set up a third-and-10 situation at the Los Angeles 25-yard line.
Then, on the very next play, Damone Clark, who is taking the most snaps in his young career to compensate for LVE's absence, comes barreling at Herbert as he throws the ball over the middle, which Stephon Gilmore intercepts to put an end to any Chargers heroics.
Markquese Bell, the safety by trade who played 39, was also an important assist with Vander Esch out.
And this defense, which had been pounded by the Niners for 170 yards rushing, 400 total yards, and 42 points, stopped the Chargers' No. 5 offense to only 272 yards and 53 yards rushing, limiting a returning Austin Ekeler to only 27 yards on 14 carries. And, more crucially, limiting Herbert's 106.3 QB rating to an 84.0, while forcing him to do a lot of his work scurrying around in the pocket.
Hey, any time you can limit an NFL offense to 17 points, your team has a chance to win. Especially given that this was the Cowboys' closest game of the season, a three-pointer after winning the previous three by margins of 40, 20, and 35 points.
Sometimes you simply have to grind it out, and this was a true slog because these NFL officials called a total of 20 penalties, 11 of which were for 85 yards on the Cowboys. However, they decided there was no fair catch interference when KaVontae Turpin was ran over by Ja'Sir Taylor because further analysis determined he was engaged with Jalbert, resulting in a Chargers' recovery at the Dallas 20-yard line and the game-tying touchdown.
"This is huge," Dak remarked of the win, despite its lack of aesthetics. "That's exactly what I told the offense when we were taking that first kneel-down there." These are the games we'll be playing. We've had a few blowouts.
