Last-play FG propels Dallas past Chargers
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Greg Zuerlein connected on a 56-yard field goal as time expired to give the Dallas Cowboys a 20-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
After Tristan Vizcaino tied the game with a 29-yard field goal with 3:58 remaining, Dallas went 49 yards in 11 plays to get just barely into Zuerlein’s range.
Troy Pollard ran for 109 yards on 13 carries for the third 100-yard game of his career. Dak Prescott completed 23 of 27 passes for 237 yards as the Cowboys evened their record at 1-1 despite being without five players who started the opener.
Justin Herbert had his 10th 300-yard game – completing 31 of 41 passes for 338 yards – tying him for the most by a quarterback in his first two seasons. He had one touchdown pass but threw two interceptions.
Penalties loomed large for the Chargers (1-1), who were flagged 12 times for 99 yards and had a pair of touchdowns taken away.
Herbert’s 37-yard TD pass to a wideopen Donald Parham was nullified when Jared Cook was called for holding.
Three plays later, Herbert was intercepted in the end zone by Damontae Kazee on third-and-6 from the Dallas 9 after Keenan Allen appeared to slip on his route.
In the fourth quarter, a motion penalty took away a 2-yard score for Cook. The Chargers had to settle for Vizcaino’s third field goal to even it at 17.
Los Angeles is 8-17 in one-score losses since the start of the 2019 season.
Dallas went 78 yards in 15 plays on the opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. Troy Pollard scored on a jet sweep from 4 yards out. The drive was kept alive when Chargers linebacker Kyzir White was called for pass interference after Prescott threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-1 from the Dallas 48.
Vizcaino’s 46-yard field goal put Los Angeles on the board before the Cowboys extended their lead to 14-3 during the final minute of the first quarter when Ezekiel Elliott went 5 yards off right tackle.