After two consecutive crushing defeats, the Dallas Cowboys look to rebound on Sunday as they welcome the Los Angeles Chargers to AT&T Stadium. Before the two teams square off, here are three bold predictions for the matchup.
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1) Cowboys’ defensive line takes advantage of the Chargers’ makeshift offensive line, recording five sacks
Coming into the season, the Los Angeles Chargers had to feel good about their outlook on the offensive line. After selecting stud left tackle Rashawn Slater back in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Chargers once again selected a high-profile tackle with a premium selection, this time taking Joe Alt out of Notre Dame with the fifth pick.
With Slater and Alt at both tackle spots, Los Angeles had one of the best young offensive tackle duos in all of football. Unfortunately for the Chargers, untimely injuries ruined this season for the talented young tackles. Slater suffered a season-ending injury in training camp, a huge blow for Los Angeles’ offense. Things got even worse as the season went on, as the 22-year-old Alt also suffered a season-ending injury, just six games into his NFL career.
The loss of both Alt and Slater caused a complete overhaul of the Chargers’ offensive line. To this point in the season, playing without both of their tackles has caused Los Angeles to have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. The Chargers have allowed Justin Herbert to be sacked 49 times, tied for the most of any quarterback in the league.
It’s almost hard to believe how poor the protection has been for Herbert this season. The 27-year-old quarterback has been pressured 15 or more times in eight of the Chargers’ 14 games this season, along with being sacked four-plus times in four separate matchups.
This week, Dallas’ defensive line gets a very favorable matchup against this struggling Chargers’ offensive line. For the first time since Thanksgiving, we see the Cowboys’ defensive line make a true impact as they generate some consistent pressure and record an impressive five sacks.
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2) Chargers’ defense forces Dak Prescott into his fourth multi-interception game of the season
The Chargers’ defense has been, without a doubt, one of the more impressive defensive units in all of football this season. Los Angeles has allowed the second-fewest yards (3,907) of any defense in the NFL, allowing just 20 points per game.
Since Week 8, the Chargers have allowed more than 20 points in a game just one time. Over this seven-game span, Los Angeles leads the league in Defensive EPA/Play (-0.192), Dropback EPA (-0.185), and is second in Defensive Rush EPA (-0.204). Los Angeles has also been the best in the NFL at recording takeaways in these seven games, recording a league-high 13 takeaways over this span.
On the season, the Chargers have recorded the third-most interceptions (17) of any defense in the league, and that number will increase on Sunday. With recent poor play from the Cowboys’ offensive line, we’ve seen Dak Prescott have to make some quick decisions over the past few weeks. On the season, Prescott has been pressured on 10.2% of his throws (most in the league), and while he has done an outstanding job escaping negative plays, he has had some turnover luck on his side.
Prescott has just 10 interceptions in 14 games this season, but that number could easily be much higher. The 32-year-old quarterback is top-10 in the league in interceptable passes (15) and danger plays (20), showing he has had some luck to only have 10 interceptions on the year.
This week, Prescott won’t be so lucky as the impressive Chargers’ defense will take advantage of mistakes. Los Angeles picks off Prescott twice, forcing the quarterback into his fourth multi-interception game of the year.
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3) Teams combine to score fewer than 40 points, going well under the pregame O/U total of 49.5
While the Cowboys’ defense has been atrocious this season, they should have a fairly favorable matchup this week against a Chargers’ offense without a true number one wide receiver and a struggling offensive line. On the Chargers’ side of things, their defense has been playing like the best defensive unit in football of late, and that likely will continue on Sunday.
For really the first time this season, Dallas is locked in a defensive battle on Sunday as the two teams combine to score fewer than 40 points.
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