Cowboys at Chargers: Here’s what the media is predicting

It’s amazing how the minds of many can change in a week, especially after the week the Dallas Cowboys have had. Dallas lost starters on offense and defense after putting on a very impressive showing against the defending champions last week. Now everyone looks to be jumping off the Cowboy bus and heavily favoring their opponent this week. The Cowboys have too much talent and a very competent coaching staff to not be able to figure this out, right?

Let’s see what NFL media think about the Cowboys chances against their week two opponent, the Los Angeles Chargers.

CBSSports(Pete Prisco): Chargers 35, Cowboys 30

Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Chargers (-3)

The Chargers are coming off a tough road victory at Washington and now get to play in front of fans in their new stadium for the first time, even if there will be a lot of Cowboys fans there. I expect to see a lot of points in this one. Watching Justin Herbert and Dak Prescott in a shootout will be fun to see. The Chargers will be the team that makes the defensive play late to seal it.

This is also not factoring in the loss of DeMarcus Lawrence now so this might really be a shootout.

ProFootbalTalk (Mike Florio): Chargers 27, Cowboys 23

Florio’s take: The Cowboys have a bunch of injury issues, already. The Chargers, for a change, don’t.

Florio’s pick: Chargers 27, Cowboys 23.

The pile-up of early injuries is swaying opinion.

ProFootballTalk (Michael David Smith): Cowboys 21, Chargers 20

MDS’s take: The Cowboys played well against the Buccaneers in Week One and I think they’re going to continue to play well in Week Two, this time earning a hard-fought win.

MDS’s pick: Cowboys 21, Chargers 20.

Don’t count out a team that took the champs down to the wire.

ESPN (Todd Archer): Chargers 27, Cowboys 23

Bold prediction: Dak Prescott will not throw for 400 yards. Not bold enough? In the past four games that he has started and finished, he has thrown for at least 403 yards. He is the first player in league history with four 400-yard games in a five-game span. He has eight 400-yard passing games since 2016, most in the NFL. But the Cowboys are just 1-3 in those four games and know that is not a long-term formula for success. Maybe he throws for just 399 yards instead.

Dak not throwing for 400 yards could mean Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are doing work.

ESPN (Shelley Smith): Chargers 34, Cowboys 23

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert will be looking for Austin Ekeler through the air this week after the running back didn’t have a catch in Week 1. Los Angeles coach Brandon Staley has said the team needs to work Ekeler into the passing game. On the other side, the Cowboys need a big day from their offense to avoid an 0-2 start.

They will look to exploit the Cowboys with their running back but the Cowboys have speed at linebacker now. It should be interesting.

NFL.Com (Gregg Rosenthal): Chargers 34, Cowboys 26

You would have never known last week was Justin Herbert’s first game in his new offense. You would have never known that it was Derwin James’ first game back from injury in a new defense. This L.A. squad was ready, and the Chargers were one of my favorite picks this week even before the news came out that DeMarcus Lawrence is out with a broken foot and Randy Gregory is on the COVID list. The Bolts’ secondary has enough coverage players to get a few stops, and that should be all Los Angeles needs.

It looks like few people are on the Cowboys bandwagon.

SportingNews (Bill Bender): Cowboys 33, Chargers 31

The Chargers won on the road in the opener, and they have a chance to drop Dallas to 0-2. Justin Herbert will enjoy another 300-yard game, but Dak Prescott keeps that Dallas offense moving. Per usual, the Cowboys play in one of the most-entertaining games of the day.

Finally, a shootout prediction that the Cowboys actually win!

Bleacher Report (NFL Staff): Chargers 28, Cowboys 27

There it is again! That pesky hook, this time scaring away some of those who want to back the Los Angeles Chargers after a strong Week 1 road win but figure the well-rested Dallas Cowboys can stick around with star guard Zack Martin returning from the reserve/COVID-19 list.

“Dallas fans might be exhausted after watching a Week 1 game that featured nearly 800 total passing yards, but buckle up once again,” Rogers said. “I don’t think there will be a defensive answer for Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense, but the Cowboys will counterpunch with tons of points. The Michael Gallup injury would devastate most teams, but not one with Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb. This is one of the toughest picks of the week, but I’m betting on Dak Prescott and Co.”

He’s in the majority, but by the slimmest possible margin after Gagnon jumped to Dallas on Wednesday in light of news that the Cowboys won’t have DeMarcus Lawrence (foot), Gallup (calf) or La’el Collins (suspension). Kenyon joins him on the Bolts, although anyone following would be smart to consider buying back that hook to insure against a field-goal victory for Los Angeles.

This is another one in which you’ll want to tread carefully and monitor the status of Chargers right tackle Bryan Bulaga (back).

Predictions

Davenport: Dallas

Gagnon: Los Angeles

Kenyon: Los Angeles

O’Donnell: Dallas

Rogers: Dallas

Sobleski: Dallas

Consensus: Dallas +3.5

This prediction is just a mixed-bag.

We discussed what the Cowboys need to do if they want to win this game and learned about the Chargers from our friends at Bolts From The Blue on our official pregame show this week.

You can watch it all below, plus make sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel (which you can do right here) so you don’t miss any of the videos that we put out!