What’s up, Bolt Nation? Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of Talking Touchdowns. There are so many things to be thankful for, and for Chargers fans, we can be thankful for coming off a 52-24 win over the Buffalo Bills. Up next, we will go head to Dallas to face the Cowboys for some Thanksgiving football.
LA Chargers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Offense
After self-reporting concussion symptoms, Philip Rivers was cleared to play and made his 186th consecutive start against the Buffalo Bills. Rivers completed 21 of 33 passes for 250 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, before Kellen Clemens made his appearance in the fourth quarter.
Rivers connected with Allen for both of his touchdown passes. Melvin Gordon got his run game going and some might say that rookie Austin Ekeler, who had a great game the week before, sparked the fire under his guns. Melvin Gordon had his fifth touchdown of the season and Ekeler also reached the end zone in last week’s game.
While the Chargers offense appears to be clicking, Dallas’ offense has not been at its best. The Cowboys will be missing their star running back, Ezekiel Elliott, as he is serving his third game of a six-week suspension for domestic violence charges.
And if they weren’t hurting enough, last week, Dak Prescott threw three interceptions on Sunday Night Football game against the Eagles. He finished with 145 passing yards and completed just 18 of 31 passes.
Defense
The Chargers defense under Gus Bradley is getting better and better each week. Last week they created six turnovers for the Chargers, two of which lead to defensive touchdowns by Korey Toomer and Melvin Ingram.
Joey Bosa, is a guy who continues to show he can wreck havoc. He had a caused fumble, which resulted in a touchdown by Melvin Ingram and he had two other pressures that severely impacted the ability of Nate Peterman to throw the ball.
Dallas’ defense on the other hand is struggling in the absence of Sean Lee and it appears the Thanksgiving game might still be in jeopardy for him. With Lee inactive the last three games, Dallas’ defense has allowed an average of 153.3 rushing yards, which has nearly doubled since his injury.
Game Prediction
The Chargers played with balance last week and showed they have the fire under their guns and want an opportunity to play in the postseason. Considering Dallas will be missing a few key players and has been struggling recently, I’m going to make the prediction that the Chargers will take the W!
[NFL-Chargers-footer]Photo Credits:
- Los Angeles Chargers on Wikimedia Commons by San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers
- Buffalo Bills blue on Wikimedia Commons by Moe Epsilon
- Dallas Skyline Daytime on Wikimedia by Alan Botting
- Philip Rivers on flickr by Jeffrey Beall
- Kellen Clemmons on Wikimedia by Jeffery Beall
- Melvin Gordon on Wikimedia by Jeffrey Beall
- Cowboys on Wikimedia Commons by Dallas Cowboys
- Ezekiel Elliott on Wikimedia Commons by Keith Allison
- Melvin Ingram on wikimedia commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Joey Bosa on wikimedia commons by Jeffrey Beall
- Sean Lee on Wikimedia Commons by MC Glasgow
