Chargers hope to finish the preseason with a win at Dallas

The Los Angeles Chargers head into their final preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys hoping to produce points on offense and find a win. The Chargers scored just 9 points in a disappointing 13-9 preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium last Saturday.

The loss dropped the Chargers to 0-2 in preseason, while the Rams are 2-0 in preseason play. The Chargers have scored a total of 12 points in two preseason games, both at home. The Chargers have failed to score a touchdown in the first two preseason games.

With starting quarterback Justin Herbert on the sidelines, the Chargers again started backup Easton Stick, and he again struggled to find consistency and avoid mistakes. Stick played in the first half and left with a 6-3 halftime lead over the Rams. But it could have been a much larger lead.

With the score tied at 3-3 early in the second quarter, Stick drove the Chargers to the Rams one-yard line. He converted three first downs, rushing for 19 yards on the drive, completed a five-yard sideline pass to rookie Ladd McConkey for a key first down and completed a 13-yard pass to running back Isaiah Spiller, beating the blitz to give the Chargers a first down on the Rams 6-yard line.

Unfortunately, on 3rd-and-1 at the Rams one-yard line, Stick fumbled the snap. The fumble was recovered by Rams safety Jason Taylor. After the game, Stick explained what happened. "Just dropped the snap. I dropped it. It was on me, hit my hands, and I dropped it." On the same offensive drive, Stick overthrew a wide-open Quentin Johnston on a deep throw down the left sideline.

Stick also threw an interception in the second quarter, an errant pass behind a wide-open Semi Fehoko over the middle, that was intercepted by Rams cornerback Jaylen McCollough at the Rams 26-yard line. Two potential scoring opportunities left points on the field for the Chargers and left Stick in an uncomfortable position as the Chargers backup quarterback.

The Chargers showed that they can move the ball offensively in the first half and Stick showed that he can make plays. But the consistency has been lacking on offense and for Stick. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh addressed that concern after the game.

"Points per possession," Harbaugh said. "That is the major stat. We get it all the way down to the one, and then we fumbled the snap or turnover in the red zone. Those are the kind of things you just can't do. We have to control the controllables. Obviously, if you are the quarterback, you can't throw interceptions in the red zone or fumble snaps. He knows that."

Individually, there were some very good performances on both offense and defense in the game. Rookie running back Kamani Vidal had a 13-yard run on his first preseason carry, and 8 yards on his second carry. He added 3 yards on his third carry to give the Chargers two consecutive first downs on running plays. Those three runs helped set up a Cameron Dicker 55-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3. For the night, Vidal led the Chargers in rushing yardage with 49 yards on 11 carries and added two receptions for 8 yards.

"Good to see the offense moving the ball," Harbaugh said. "Coming out I thought we had a good first half. First downs and getting the ball to playmakers. Good to see some movement up front. I think there was a lot of improvement from Week 1 to Week 2. I thought Kamani played well. His vision, he was running low, getting his pads down, showed some elusiveness."

Dicker made all three field goal attempts on the night and for the preseason is 4-for-4 on field goal attempts. Chargers cornerback Deane Leonard had a terrific interception off of Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett in the end zone on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line in the third quarter. Fehoko had two receptions for 52 yards and had an impressive tackle of running back Boston Scott on a kickoff return, dropping him on the 19 yard-line.

Quarterback Luis Perez played in the second half for the Chargers, completing 13 of 20 passes for 78 yards. The Chargers cut two quarterbacks in the past week, 2023 7th round draft pick Max Duggan and undrafted free agent Casey Bauman. Perez is clearly the No. 3 quarterback on the roster at this point.

Most of the starters played in the preseason game against the Rams, with the exception of Herbert, edge rushers Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack, safety Derwin James, and running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. The Chargers are clearly protecting their premier players for the regular season opener at home against the Las Vegas Raiders on September 8.

The final preseason game this Saturday, August 24th against the Cowboys will feature players who are just trying to make the roster from both teams. The game will start at 1:00 pm and will be televised locally on KCBS Channel 2 and nationally on the NFL Network.

NFL teams must have their rosters down to 53 players by Tuesday, August 27 at 1:00 pm PST. Most NFL teams are carrying 90 players at this point, so the final game is much more important to players just trying to make the 53-man roster. For the Chargers, a win in Dallas and a few offensive touchdowns would also help.