MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL WEEK 6: DALLAS COWBOYS AT LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

BY ADAM GREENE

The battle for the Worst Head Coach in the NFL is on, with Mike McCarthy and Brandon Staley filling out their side of the bracket by matching up their teams on Monday Night Football when the Dallas Cowboys make the trip to SoFi Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Chargers.

This will just be the 13^th all time meeting between the two teams. Dallas leads the series 7-5 but has lost three of the last four going back to 2009. They last faced off on Sep. 19, 2021, with the Cowboys claiming a 20-17 victory. And, yes, that does mean that McCarthy is 1-0 against Staley. So, that’s a black mark on the Chargers coach to be sure.

Dak Prescott was 23 of 27 passing for 237 yards, no touchdowns and a pick in the win. Tony Pollard rushed 13 times for 109 yards and a TD. Ezekiel Elliott (now with the New England Patriots) had 16 carries for 17 yards and a score. CeeDee Lamb caught eight passes for 81 yards.

In the loss, Justin Herbert was 31 of 41 passing for 338 yards, one TD and two picks. Ausitn Ekeler had nine carries for 54 yards and led the team in catches with nine for 61 yards. Keenan Allen caught four passes for 108 yards. Mike Williams had seven grabs for 91 yards and a touchdown.

DALLAS COWBOYS AT LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (+2.5, O/U: 44.5)

Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif.

Broadcast: ESPN

Kickoff: Oct. 16, 8:15 p.m.

DALLAS COWBOYS (3-2)

With an opportunity to really put themselves in the conversation amongst the NFL’s best teams, the Cowboys promptly took a dump right in the middle of the bed, losing 42-10 to the San Francisco 49ers in a game that was more lopsided than that if you watched it. Dak Prescott was 14 of 24 passing for 153 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in the loss. He was sacked three times. Dallas rushed for a total of 57 yards. CeeDee Lamb led the team with four catches for 49 yards. The defense sacked Brock Purdy once but surrendered 170 yards on the ground.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (2-2)

Brandon Staley enters this contest for Worst NFL Head Coach with the advantage of already defeating one of the other key competitors for the title, Josh McDaniels, when the Chargers knocked off the Las Vegas Raiders 24-17 two weeks ago before their bye. And none of it was thanks to Staley, who nearly gave the game away late with a stupid failed fourth down conversion attempt at his own 34 yard-line. Luckily for him, McDaniels drew up the perfect play on offense to counter that idiotic move and rookie Aiden O’Connell tossed an interception on a first and goal play at the three. AT THE THREE. WITH JOSH JACOBS AS YOUR RUNNING BACK. With over two and a half minutes to go in the game. Just a master class from these men on exactly why they should both be in the bread line every Monday (or Tuesday in this case) morning. Justin Herbert was 13 of 24 passing for 167 yards, one touchdown and an interception in the “win.” He rushed 12 times for 27 yards and two scores. Joshua Kelley had 17 carries for 65 yards. Joshua Palmer caught three passes for 77 yards. The defense sacked O’Connell seven times, with six coming from Khalil Mack. I hope he’s ready to pay some child support in nine months.

THE PICK

I feel sorry both these teams, both these quarterbacks and both these fanbases in spite of the size of the Cowboys’ backers and all three of the Chargers fans, one of whom may not count as he could just be a homeless guy that found an old Philip Rivers jersey in a dumpster. I have to pick a winner, but really, there are no winners here. Chargers 27, Cowboys 24

Last week

Straight up: 5-9

Against the spread: 5-9

Season

Straight up: 48-30

Against the spread: 41-37

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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