The Cowboys and Chargers get Week 6 wrapped up tonight on Monday Night Football! Los Angeles is 2-2 and coming off a bye, while Dallas is 3-2 after last weekend’s loss to the 49ers. The Cowboys come into tonight’s game as 1.5-point favorites and the over/under is set at 50.5.
The Cowboys
Last weekend’s game was a primetime disaster, and the Cowboys will certainly be looking to bounce back tonight. The Chargers haven’t been great defensively, so the game provides a great opportunity for Dak Prescott and the offence to remind everyone how good they can be. If they want to do that, though, they’ll have to take care of the ball and finish drives with touchdowns instead of field goals. Dallas hasn’t been very good in the red zone this year, and if they struggle again tonight, it’ll be tough to keep up with the offence on the other sideline.
Look for Dak to get CeeDee Lamb and Tony Pollard involved early and often. The team is at their best when both are being utilized, but Lamb has had more than four catches in just one game this season and Pollard hasn’t found the endzone since Week 1. The ball does need to be spread out on offence, but Dallas is clearly a better team when these two are their main contributors.
The Chargers
The Bolts are coming back from the bye with a big boost in the backfield. Austin Ekeler will be back in the lineup for the first time since Week 1, and he should make an immediate impact in both the rushing and passing game. Despite Dallas’ elite players on defence, we’ve seen two teams in the last three weeks score 28 and 42 points against them. If Arizona can gash this team, Los Angeles certainly could as well. The key connection will once again be Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen, but I do expect to see a lot of guys get involved in the pass game today for L.A.
The biggest test for the Chargers tonight will be on defence. They have a high-flying offence that likely won’t get totally stuck against Micah Parsons and the Cowboys, but defensively, they’ll have to step up. In their three wins, the Cowboys have scored an average of 36 points. Meanwhile, the Chargers have allowed at least 24 points in three of their four games. The blueprint on how to slow Dallas down is out there after the losses to Arizona and San Francisco, and tonight will be about how well the Chargers’ defence can execute.
Cowboys and Chargers: The Pick
Tonight tilt between the Cowboys and Chargers could be one of the better games of the season. Both teams can put up a lot of points, and I expect to see it happen here. The Chargers are rested after the bye week and welcoming back their star runner, while the Cowboys are angry and looking to get one back after a terrible game on Sunday Night last week. It’s tough to pick a team here, so we’ll go with OVER 50.5 points scored.
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