Cowboys fall to Chargers

By Elwyn Henderson

The Dallas Cowboys made their final appearance at AT&T Stadium for the 2025 season Sunday when they hosted the Los Angeles Chargers in noon contest. It was the first game for the Cowboys since they were officially eliminated from playoff contention following the Philadelphia Eagles winning the NFC Eastern Division by virtue of the their 29-18 victory on Saturday night over the Washington Commanders. Dallas sat at 6-7-1 coming into the game while the Chargers came in at 10-4 on the season.

Despite being under .500 on the season the Cowboys entered the game as 1.5 point favorites but when the final seconds ran off the fourth quarter clock Dallas lost the game by the score of 34-17.

The Chargers won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving the Cowboys the ball to begin the game. Cameron Dicker booted the ball away to get the game underway.

Dallas began their first possession just outside their 20. Dak Prescott led the offense down the field and into the end zone for the first score of the game. The TD came on a 5-yard pass from Prescott to Ryan Flournoy with 10:20 left in the opening quarter. Brandon Aubrey split the uprights on the PAT and the Cowboys led 7-0. The drive was 9 plays, 74 yards and took 4:40.

The Chargers began their first at their 35 following Aubrey’s kickoff after the score. Justin Herbert moved his charges down the field with ease and hit Quentin Johnston on a 23-yard TD pass with 6:43 left in the quarter. Dicker added the extra point and the game was knotted 7-7. The drive was 6 plays, 65 yards and took 3:37 off the first quarter clock.

KaVontae Turpin returned the ensuing kick up to the 29 where Prescott and company hit the field for their second possession of the game.

The ‘Boys moved down the field once again but after a holding call negated a second Prescott to Flournoy TD Dallas had to settle for a 33-yard Aubrey field goal with 14:04 left in the first half of play, putting the Cowboys back on top 10-7. The drive was 16 plays, 56 yards and took 7:39.

The Chargers moved quickly down the field on their next possession, beginning at their 13,  and found the end zone again when Herbert hit Ladd McConkey on a 25-yard TD pass with 9:45 left in the first half. The drive was 7 plays, 87 yards and took 4:19. The score gave the visitors a 14-10 lead, their first of the game.

Turpin returned the kick after the TD to the 30, but the Cowboys were called for a holding call, moving the ball back to the 20 where the offense set up shop again.

Prescott led the offense into the end zone on the drive, hitting George Pickens on a 38-yard TD pass with 8:08 left in the half. After Aubrey added the extra point Dallas took the lead back 17-14. The 4-play, 80-yard drive took just 1:37 off the clock.

When the Chargers got the ball back they shredded the Dallas defense again, moving down the field with ease. Herbert concluded the possession himself, running in from the 1 with 19 seconds left in the half. Dicker added the extra point and the Chargers led 21-17 and were set to receive the second half kickoff. The drive was 16 plays, 81 yards and took 7:49.

The cowboys returned the kick after the TD to their 25. They gained 7 yards on the first play and called a time out with 10 seconds left. Prescott was sacked on the next play and the half ended.

The Chargers began their first drive of the second half at their 24. As had been the case all game, Herbert moved his team down the field with precision accuracy until the Cowboys defense finally came up with a third down stop at their 19, forcing a Dicker 37-yard field goal try. The kick was good and the visitors led 24-17 with 11:51 left in the third quarter. The drive was 6 plays, 57 yards and took 3:09.

Dallas began their next drive at their 20 after a holding call on the kickoff return. The possession resulted in the first punt of the game and with 9:04 left in the third quarter Herbert and the Chargers had the ball back at their 17 and for the first time in the game the defense forced a three-and-out. JK Scott punted the ball and Dallas went back on the offensive at their 18 with 7:25 left in the third quarter.

The Cowboys offense moved down to the Chargers 14 and faced a 4th and 1 and Brian Schottenheimer made the decision to go for a first down. The run resulted in a 1-yard loss and Los Angeles took over at that point with 2:15 left in the quarter.

As he had done all day, Herbert moved his team down the field on another lengthy drive. The defense managed to stop a 3rd and 6 from the Dallas 9 after a false start but Dicker came in on fourth down and booted a 27-yard field goal that put the Chargers up 27-17 with 8:57 left in the game pretty much shutting the door on any chance Dallas had to come back and win the game. The drive was 14 plays, 75 yards and took 8:18.

The Cowboys moved up to their 46 and facing a 4th and 4 Prescott hot a big rush and threw a deep pass that fell incomplete and the ball turned over on downs.

Herbert led the Chargers offense down the field and into the end zone again with 4:48 left in the game. The score came on a 5-yard run by Omarion Hampton with 4:48 left in the game. Dicker added the point after and the final nail was in the Cowboys coffin as the lead swelled to 34-17. The drive was 6 plays, 46 yards and took 2:09.

After the TD Joe Milton came in at quarterback to see if he could ignite the offense. He made a couple of nice passes and then had a big run but was hit and fumbled and the Chargers recovered and set up shop at the Dallas 43 with just under four minutes left in the game.

Dallas took over on downs at their 30 and ran one play and the game ended with the Chargers moving to 11-4 and the Cowboys dropped to 6-8-1.

After the game the Mirror asked Coach Brian Schottenheimer his thoughts.

“I think when you look at the game, complementary football. We did not have that. Offensively, I thought in the first half we were terrific. They really struggled to stop us and thought we were kind of having our way. And then defensively, obviously we had our struggles in the first half. This team, talking about the Chargers of course, they do a great job of possessing the football. Got to be able to get off the field on third down and we weren’t able to do that. And at the end of the day, I thought there were some untimely penalties. A touchdown came off the board and some third downs became third and long. So disappointed, but we have no time to worry about it. Got a game here in another couple days.”

 

When Dak Prescott came out for his presser the Mirror asked him if he would rather get right back on the field like the team will on Thursday when they play a Christmas Day game in Washington against the Commanders or if he would rather have a full week to prepare.

 

“I’d rather the shorter period. Win, lose or draw. I’m a fan of Thursday games. I know I’m probably one of the only men in the league, but I’d just rather go out and play. Love practice, don’t get me wrong, it’s where you get better. You got to have it, but there’s just something about the game, that’s what we do it for. Being in it so long, I understand the process and taking care of my body for the next couple of days to be ready to play my best on Thursday. But yeah, in the situation particularly that we’re in, not playing for the playoffs or things like that, yeah, you just want to get back out there and redeem yourself.”

 

The Cowboys will face the Commanders at noon Christmas Day on Netflix. The team will hope to be able to finish on a positive note the final two games of the season.