Cowboy fall to Chargers, 26-19

By Elwyn Henderson

The Dallas Cowboys made their one and only preseason home appearance at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Saturday afternoon in front of over 80,900 fans when they entertained the Los Angeles Chargers. Dallas came into the game at 1-1 on the preseason and the Chargers entered the fray at 0-2 under former National Champion Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh.
When the dust settled, the Chargers walked off the field with a 26-19 victory. Trey Lance played the entire game at quarterback, and while he had some beautiful runs, he threw 5 picks in the game including 2 in the end zone and a pick-6.
The game was important to both teams because the annual roster cut down is looming this coming Tuesday, August 27th.
Prior to the National Anthem performed as usual by Freddie Jones on his trombone, the Cowboys asked for a moment of silence in memory of former Super Bowl running back Duane Thomas and Super Bowl lineman Larry Allen who both died during the offseason.
The Cowboys won the coin toss and elected to receive to begin the game. Former Texas Longhorn Cameron Dicker kicked the ball away for the Chargers. Jalen Cropper returned the kick but Dallas was flagged for holding on the return, resulting in starting quarterback for the game, Trey Lance and the offense starting their first drive at their 10.
Lance led the offense down the field, but thanks to a fumble inside the 10, the Cowboys had to settle for a 23-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal with 8:06 left in the first quarter, making the score 3-0. The drive was 14 plays, 85 yards and took 6:54 off the clock.
The ensuing Aubrey kickoff was downed in the end zone and under the new kickoff rules the Chargers began their first possession at their 30. On the first play of the possession Derius Davis took a handoff from quarterback Easton Stick and blasted 70 yards down the field in 12 seconds on an end around into the end zone with 7:54 left in the quarter. Dicker added the PAT and LA took a 7-3 lead.
Dicker’s kick after the score landed in the new “landing zone” (between the 20-yard line and the end zone) but went into the end zone where it was downed for a touchback at the 20-yard line, and Lance brought the offense back out for their second possession. After picking up two first downs, Bryan Anger was forced to punt the ball away on the third series. The 47-yard kick was fair caught at the Chargers 11 and the visitors went back to work with 4:31 left in the opening frame.
The Dallas defense forced a three-and-out, bringing in JK Scott to punt the ball back to Dallas. The 57-yard kick was returned to the Dallas 31 and Lance and crew hit the field once again with 3:31 left in the first quarter. The Chargers returned the favor as Dallas went three-and-out and Anger came back into the game. The kick traveled 57 yards to the LA 7, and after a 4-yard return Stack brought his unit out at the LA 8. After running 3 plays and picking up a first down the first quarter came to an end with the visitors up 7-3.
On the first play of the second quarter Stick hit Simi Fehoko on a 78-yard TD strike with 14:49 left in the second quarter. The drive was 4 plays, 89 yards and took 1:47. Dicker added the extra point and the Chargers expanded their lead to 14-3.
Dallas began their next drive inside their 10 following a holding call on the kick return. After picking up two first downs, Lance threw an interception to Tony Jefferson and he returned the ball to the Dallas 38, giving the Chargers excellent field position for their next possession.
Stick moved his team down to the Dallas 4, but the defense came to life and forced a 21-yard Dicker field goal with 7:26 left in the half, advancing the visitors lead to 17-3. The drive was 10 plays, 35 yards and took 4:21 off the clock.
Dallas got the ball back at their after the ensuing kickoff and moved straight down the field with some good runs by Lance and Deuce Vaughn. The drive ended when Lance hit Ryan Flournoy with 1:46 left in the half on an 11-yard TD pass. Aubrey added the point after and closed the gap to 17-10. The drive was a 13-play 74-yard jaunt that consumed 5:40.
The teams exchanged two possessions and then Dallas fumbled the ball away after a pass completion near midfield, giving the Chargers one more drive before halftime. They took advantage of the miscue and Dicker booted a 48-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining until the half, and LA went up 20-10.
Following a touchback of the Dicker kickoff, Lance took a knee and the first half came to a close with LA up 20-10 and set to get the ball to begin the second half.
After a return of Aubrey’s kickoff to begin the second half the Chargers set up at their 24. Stick moved the team deep into Dallas territory and it looked as though they would widen their lead, but Julius Wood intercepted Stick at the Dallas 21 and returned the ball up to the 39 and the ‘Boys were back in business.
Just as it seemed Dallas would close the gap to 3, after moving down inside the LA 10, Lance threw an interception to Tony Jefferson in the end zone and the ball was returned to the 11. The Cowboys defense forced a three-and-out and after a fair catch of Scott’s punt, Dallas began their next drive at their 43 with 4:44 left in the third quarter.
It looked like the Pokes would have another three-and-out, but Mike McCarthy opted to go for it on fourth down and a pass was successful, moving the ball to the visitors 46. On the next play, Lance went around left end 46 yards into the end zone for a TD with 3:31 left in the quarter, moving the Cowboys to within 4 points at 20-16. A try for a 2-point conversion failed following an incomplete pass, and the scored remained 20-16. The drive was 5 plays, 57 yards and took 1:53.
After a touchback into the end zone the visitors began their next drive at their 30. Dallas gave up one first down and then forced a punt on the second series. The ball went into the end zone and the Cowboys began their next drive at their 20 with 9 seconds left in the third frame.
The teams exchanged punts and then Dallas began another drive at their 19.
The ‘Boys had a long drive, but stalled out at the LA 16, leading to an Aubrey 33-yard field goal with 7:50 left in the game, bringing the score to 20-19 with the Chargers still leading. The drive was 13 plays, 65 yards and took 6:12 off the clock.
The Dallas defense held strong on the next LA possession and got the ball back after a punt at their 8 with 5:36 left in the game, needing a field goal to take their second lead of the day.
On the third play of the possession, Lance threw a 25-yard pick-6 to Tre’Mon Morris-Brash 4:14 left in the game, moving the score to 26-19. The extra point try was good, but Dallas was flagged for leaping and LA chose to go for a 2-point conversion. The Cowboys were flagged again at the snap of the ball for 12 men on the field, pushing the ball inside the 1. The run for 2 was no good, leaving the score at 26-19, and still giving the home team a chance to tie the game or go for 2 in an attempt to win the game if they scored a touchdown on the drive.
The kickoff went out of the end zone and the Cowboys began at their 30 with hopes of getting into the end zone. Those hopes were soon dashed, as Lance was intercepted by Matt Hankins at the LA 47 with 2:14 left in the game.
The defense rose to the challenge, and after a punt the Cowboys got one more chance with 1:51 left in the game and one timeout, as they began the drive at their 10.
The offense moved the ball down to the LA 34 with 27 seconds left in the game and called their timeout, knowing they would either have to hit sideline passes or go for the end zone on every play.
With one play left and 7 seconds, Lance threw his fifth interception of the day to Robert Kennedy in the end zone as time expired, giving the Chargers the 26-19 victory.
When Coach Mike McCarthy addressed the media after the contest, he said that he felt Lance was improving every game in preseason, and that while the mistakes were costly he did a lot of good things. The general feeling by most media members is that Cooper Rush will be cut and Lance will make the final roster on Tuesday.
The cut down to the final 47-man roster will come on Tuesday and the regular season begins on Thursday, September 5th. Dallas opens the season on September 8th on the road against the Cleveland Browns. It should be another interesting year.