Dallas Cowboys (0-0) vs. Los Angeles Chargers (0-0)
August 20, 2022 10:00 pm EDT
The Line: Los Angeles Chargers PK / Dallas Cowboys PK ; Over/Under: 38.5
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The Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Chargers meet Saturday in NFL preseason action from SoFi Stadium. This will be the second exhibition matchup for both teams. The Cowboys played the Broncos last weekend. In that one, Dallas took a 10-point defeat. As for Los Angeles, they’re coming off a game versus the Rams. The Chargers ended up losing by seven points. Check back all season long for free NFL picks at Sports Chat Place.
Dallas had a nice regular-season run last year, but their campaign ended suddenly. The Cowboys finished 12-5 overall, bagging an NFC East Division title along the way. In the Wild Card Playoffs versus the 49ers however, Dallas’ season came to an end with a 23-17 loss.
In their first preseason game versus the Broncos, the Cowboys gave up all 17 points in the second quarter during a 17-7 defeat. Cooper Rush threw for 84 yards and a pick on a 12-of-20 clip, and Ben DiNucci had 112 yards and a touchdown on 9-of-16 passing.
Over on the Chargers’ side, they improved on their 7-9 2020 record last year with a 9-8 run. Unfortunately that was only good enough for third place in the AFC West, and Los Angeles was left out of the playoffs for the third straight season.
Back on Saturday versus the Rams, the Chargers had a 14-14 tie going into the break but eventually lost 29-22. Easton Stick had 119 yards and an interception, and Chase Daniel managed 11-of-17 passing with 117 yards and two scores. Michael Bandy added 73 yards and a TD on seven catches.
PICK: I’m probably going to try the Chargers in this one, but probably not touching it. Both teams have some adjustments to make after their first exhibition games. San Diego had a tepid 86 rushing yards and 26:56 in time of possession against LA, but otherwise the Chargers did fairly well statistically outside of nine penalties for 120 yards.
Speaking of penalties, the Cowboys were flagged a whopping 17 times for 129 penalty yards in their loss to the Broncos over the weekend. Dallas out-gained Denver 141-39 on the ground, but the Cowboys also went just 5-of-17 on third- and fourth-down tries. Game two should be pretty interesting on both sides.
