"A Team Win" Says Head Coach Hank Sienzant
Dallas, March 4th, 2021: And they say lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice. We now know that's untrue. Three years ago, in week nine, the Chargers upset the previously undefeated Los Angeles Rams 33-29. Today, in week nine of the current PAFL season, the Chargers repeated that feat, upsetting the previously undefeated Cowboys 24-10.
After losing two of their first three, the Chargers have won five of their last six and the victory over the Cowboys puts the Chargers at 6-3 and the loss puts the Cowboys at 8-1. If the post-season started today, however, the Chargers would be the seventh seed and would miss out on the final wild card spot in the NFC playoffs on tiebreakers to the Minnesota Vikings, who are likewise 6-3.
Daniel Jones was the MVP of the contest, but head coach Hank Sienzant said it was "a team win", saying everyone on the team helped the Chargers to the upset. And in truth they did. All three facets of the Chargers - offense, defense, and special teams - contributed greatly to this win.
Perhaps the biggest contribution was by the defense on the Cowboys opening drive. Starting at their own 25, the Cowboys made it look easy, ripping off gains of 13, 9, 11, 13 and 18 yards in their first seven plays. That put them at the Chargers seven yard line with a first and goal. A run to Gus Edwards put the ball at the one yard line, with Tracy Walker making the saving tackle. Another run to Edwards put the ball just inches short of the goal line, with Matt Ioannidis making the touchdown saving stop. On third and inches, safety Vonn Bell got a finger on a quick out to Michael Thomas, and the pass from Kirk Cousins fell incomplete. On fourth and goal, the Cowboys opted not to challenge the Charger defense, and settled for the 18 yard field goal by Jason Sanders to take an early 3-0 lead.
But it was the Chargers defense running off the field high-fiving each other after forcing the field goal from the goal-line stand. And it would prove to be the only lead the Cowboys would have in the game.
The Chargers offense started slow, picking up one first down after a 37-yard kickoff return by Steven Sims. But the drive stalled at the Cowboys 42 and the Bradley Pinion punt went out of bounds at the Cowboy ten. They converted a third and 14 and a third and ten, but the Cowboys second possession fizzled out and Dallas had to punt the ball back to the Chargers with the Chargers JoJo Natson returning the punt eight yards to his own 13.
Taking over seven minutes off the clock, the Chargers drove 74 yards to the Cowboys 13, converting a third and one from their own 32 with a long pass to Courtland Sutton for 28, and then converting a fourth and one a bit later with a David Montgomery five yard gain on a dive play. But the drive petered out after one more first down, and the Chargers settled for the Stephen Hauschka 31 yard field goal to tie the game at three.
And it was the Chargers who went ahead, not the Cowboys. The Cowboys punted after a three-and-out, and San Diego drove from their own 17 to a touchdown in just seven plays, gaining more than half the yardage on one bomb from Jones to Courtland Sutton good for 45. After four straight passes to open the drive, the Chargers closed it with three straight runs, including the six yard touchdown run by Josh Jacobs to give the Chargers a 10-3 lead.
The Cowboys came right back, driving to the Chargers five, but again a goal-line stand by the Chargers defense stopped the Dallas assault. And perhaps regretting their decision to settle for the field goal earlier in the game, the Cowboys this time elected to go for it on fourth and two from the Charger five. But a quick pass to wide out Michael Thomas was deflected by linebacker Ryan Anderson and it fell harmlessly to the ground to deny the Cowboys once more. Two long drives in the first half by the Cowboys, the first of 11 plays and 75 yards, and then another of 11 plays and 70 yards, and the Cowboys had only three points to show for it. Of such things upsets are forged.
The Chargers ran out the clock on the first half with five consecutive running plays, more than happy to take a 10-3 halftime lead into the locker room.
But despite coming out determined to build on their slim 10-3 lead after halftime, they managed only one first down to start the second half, and the Cowboys were quick to tie it up after taking over at their own ten. Gains of 8, 9, 13, 14, 22, and 11 followed on consecutive plays as the Dallas offense made the Chargers defense look like Swiss cheese, and finally closing out the nine-play, 90- yard drive with a Kirk Cousins to J.D. McKissic touchdown pass from seven yards out on third and four.
It was tied, but if the Cowboys had any thoughts of going ahead again, they were quickly dashed by the Chargers special teams. Wide receiver Keelan Cole, who has been worked slowly into the offense since his acquisition five weeks ago, was inserted as the kickoff return man and promptly paid dividends, running back his first return in a San Diego uniform 47 yards to midfield. With that spark, the Chargers offense couldn't fail, and they didn't. Five consecutive runs opened the drive and moved the ball to the Cowboys 25, where the Chargers faced a fourth and two. The Chargers considered kicking the field goal, but ultimately decided to risk it, sending Montgomery up the middle for a four-yard gain to the Cowboy 21. Expecting another run, the Cowboys defense was crossed up by a pass from Jones to Sutton for the touchdown to give the Chargers back the lead at 17-10 with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter.
This was getting serious, so the Cowboys needed to get something going. And they did, with Gus Edwards running up the middle on first down for a big 23 yard gain. But a flag on the field told a different story - a holding call against Tyron Smith pushed the Cowboys back and the third-and-two pass to Alshon Jeffery was batted away by rookie safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to force the Cowboys punt. And after a further exchange of punts, the Chargers started at their own 20 with 10:52 remaining in the contest with San Diego still on top, 17-10.
Two checkdowns to seldom-used blocking back Alec Ingold of 14 yards each sandwiched around a four yard Josh Jacobs run put the ball on the Cowboys 48, and the Chargers then converted a third and eight with a pass interference call against Brian Poole good for seven yards and an automatic first down. Thinking Poole would be gunshy, the Chargers attacked him again, hitting John Ross down the right sideline for a 39 yard touchdown pass from Jones with 8:09 left in the contest. That score gave the Chargers a 24-10 lead and the Cowboys were on life support.
It didn't help that De'Anthony Thomas took a squib kickoff at the goal line and tried to return it, only to get swarmed under at the Dallas six yard line. Four straight completions by Cousins moved the ball to the Dallas 40, but facing a fourth and two from their own 48, a short slant intended for Michael Thomas never reached him as the ball was deflected at the line by Matt Ioannidis, leaving 4:32 in the game, the Chargers in possession, and Dallas down 14 points. The Cowboys were straight-lining.
The Chargers took over at the Dallas 48 and ran out the clock, with the game ending with backup quarterback Josh Rosen taking a knee at the Cowboys five yard line to officially pull the plug on the Cowboys undefeated season.
GAME NOTES: Daniel Jones completed 12 of 19 for 228 yards and two touchdowns. He ran three times for 27 yards. He was not sacked and had no turnovers for the fourth consecutive game. Statistically, it was his second best game of his rookie year, as he finished with a 139.8 passer rating, outdueling the Cowboys Kirk Cousins, who finshed with 28 of 42 for 296 yards and one touchdown pass. Cousins added seven yards on two rushes, ending with a 94.9 passer rating. That's his third lowest passer rating of the season, and his one touchdown pass is the first time this season he's been held to fewer than two.
Cousins had little run support and the Cowboys pretty much abandoned their running attack after halftime. In the second half they rushed for only 26 yards after 38 first half rushing yards.
Matt Breida was the Cowboys biggest ground gainer with 37 yards on six carries (6.2), adding 14 yards on two receptions. But Gus Edwards was stymied, picking up only 12 yards on five rushes (2.4).
By contrast the Chargers ran the ball 40 times for 178 yards (4.5), with the big three rookies contributing 174 of those yards. Josh Jacobs ran for 90 yards on 22 carries (4.1), scoring once, and catching one pass for another 11 yards to eke out a hundred yards from scrimmage. David Montgomery ran 11 times for 57 yards (5.2) and Daniel Jones ran three times for 27 (9.0). It was that kind of run support that Jones relied on to throw for 228 yards on just 12 completions.
Michael Thomas was targeted 20 of the 42 times Kirk Cousins threw. He caught 14 of those 20 for 191 yards (14.1) but no one else had more than 26 yards receiving for the Cowboys. "We used a basketball philosophy, where the big man gets his points and you concentrate on holding everyone else down," safety Tracy Walker said. Cornerback Marshon Lattimore was tasked with covering Thomas one-on-one frequently and wound up with 15 tackles and one pass defensed. He was one of 11 players who had a pass defensed against Cousins, but only ten were credited (Gardner-Johnson had one on the first play of the fourth quarter but wasn't credited with a pass defensed).
Courtland Sutton caught four for 107 yards (26.8) and one score and John Ross hauled in two for 58 (29.0) and another touchdown. Keelan Cole was tied for second on the Chargers with two receptions and contributed one big 47 yard kickoff return to spark the Chargers into their second touchdown that put them up for good.
Linebacker Darius Leonard had 13 tackles and one stuff to lead the Cowboys in tackles. Lattimore's 15 tackles led the Chargers.
TEAMS IN OPPOSITION: The stats were pretty evenly balanced, with the Chargers getting 21 first downs to the Cowboys 20, and picking up 406 yards to the Cowboys 360. How they arrived at those yardage totals was of course very different, as the Chargers had a more balanced offense with 178 on the ground and 225 through the air, while the Cowboys were at 64 rushing and 296 passing.
The Chargers did pick up two first downs on two fourth down attempts, while the Cowboys were zero for two, one time failing from the Charger five, and the second time failing on their final possession near midfield.
Both teams had three visits into the red zone, and both failed one time, kicked one field goal, and scored one touchdown. But those numbers reflect both failure and success. The Cowboys settled for their field goal from inches away and were denied any points late in the first half when they went for it on fourth and five from the Chargers five, but failed to convert. The Chargers kicked their field goal from the 13 yard line to tie the game at 3-3 and failed to get any points on their final possession of the game when Josh Rosen was taking a knee from the Cowboy five yard line to close out the game.
The only big difference in the game was in penalties, as the Chargers were caught for 15 yards in two flags, while Dallas was called seven times for 54 yards.
SEASON TO DATE: Daniel Jones is the only quarterback among qualifiers with a touchdown percentage over 10% right now. Jones is at 10.6% (22 touchdown passes in 207 attempts). He hasn't had a turnover in his past five games and he's raised his passer rating to 113.4 - good for fifth in the league among qualifiers. Right now Jones is fourth in the league in touchdown passes with 22, two behind Carson Wentz, the league leader with 24. Jones has had a passer rating of 116.9 or better in five of his last six games, winning five of those six. In that span, he's completed 87 of 135 for 1200 yards, 16 touchdowns, and just one interception. That's a passer rating of 129.3 - a passer rating which would be the best in the league right now. Not bad for a rookie quarterback.
Josh Jacobs is second in the league in rushing yards with 821 and third in the league in rushing average (6.3). He's tied for third in rushing touchdowns with six. David Montgomery is 10th in yards (603), and fourth in average (5.6). Courtland Sutton is first in receiving average with a 21.2 yard average and first in receiving touchdowns with 10. Those rankings are subject to change as the week's game are finalized.
NEXT MAN UP: The Chargers came out injury free, but Dallas suffered three injuries which impacted their ability to compete. The first of those injuries was to fullback Zack Line, who went down in the first two minutes of the game and was out for the remainder of the contest. With no fullbacks on their roster, his loss impacted their ability to run. Also in the first quarter, they lost defensive end Marcus Davenport, who likewise missed the remainder of the game. Both Line and Davenport will be back next week. And finally, in the third quarter, they lost starting defensive lineman Rodney Gunter, who will miss the next two or three weeks.
A LOOK AHEAD: The 8-1 Cowboys - presently tied with the Rams for first in the NFC but ahead on tiebreakers - visit the 7-1 (as of this writing) Colts next week. The Colts are presently the best team in the AFC and this should be next week's PAFL Game of the Week. The 6-3 Chargers travel to Kansas City next week to face the always tough 2-6 Chiefs who still must play 4-4 Denver in Kansas City this week. Last week they had a late lead on the Colts before falling in the final two minutes, so they cannot be overlooked.
Posted on 05 Mar 2021 by Hank-Chargers
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