@ Dallas

Today’s showdown is unquestionably large, but what weekend in the NFL isn’t these days? For Dallas, they are on the brink of another so-called December swoon and the critics are coming out of the woodwork to question their success over the first three months of the season. For the Chargers, today is a great litmus test against one of the NFC’s elite teams to see where they stack up in the hierarchy of the NFL. Going on the road is always a challenge and the Bolts would like to continue winning during the regular season so that they don’t have to travel much in January. As for the game itself, the battles in the trenches will be huge for both sides as these two teams feature some of the league’s most feared pass rushing personnel. For the Cowboys, Demarcus Ware is a dynamic force on defense and he will be countered by Marcus McNeill for the Bolts at the left tackle spot. Of the upcoming battle between Ware and himself, McNeill said: “Even though I wouldn’t have said it before, I circled this on my calendar. I know it’s going to be a big game and I’m going to have to play well for us to win.” Like the rest of the Bolts offensive line, McNeill has been solid over the Chargers current winning streak keeping Philip Rivers clean and protecting his blindside. Rivers offered confident praise of the team’s anchor at left tackle saying: “I’m glad we’ve got the guy we’ve got. You won’t play your best if you’re worried about what’s going on (behind you) because you can’t always see it. If you’re trying to see it then you can’t see what you need to see. Marcus does a great job over there.” San Diego is going to need McNeill to continue his great play in order to come away with a win here today.

This game should feel like home away from home for the Chargers as the weather is absolutely beautiful in Dallas as the ball is in the air off of Nate Kaeding’s foot and things get underway with some suspect special teams play by the Chargers unit as Felix Jones sets Dallas up near midfield on their opening drive. The Cowboys move the ball with a pass to Jason Witten and two Marion Barber runs, but the Bolts defense stiffens to hold them to a fourth down attempt from the San Diego 35 that is converted on a blown coverage where Quentin Jammer allows Roy Williams to get wide open along the sideline to move Dallas into the red zone. Tony Romo and company stall out from there and are forced to settle for three as Nick Folk splits the uprights to open the scoring at 3-0 Dallas. San Diego begins their first possession of the game with two plays for no gain before a laser delivery from Philip Rivers is hauled in by Malcom Floyd who exhibits some fantastic footwork on the sideline. A proverbial “oh shoot” screen to Kris Wilson moves the Bolts into Cowboys territory where some trickeration from Norv Turner on a double reverse pass play gets a pass interference flag as Floyd is mugged by Gerald Sensabaugh near the goal line. From there the Bolts go to LaDainian Tomlinson who totes the rock over the goal line to acquire the lead at 7-3 San Diego. On the next Dallas drive the Bolts pressure Romo and force a three and out from the Cowboys and take over at their own 25 on a fair catch of the Mat McBriar punt by Darren Sproles. On the ensuing drive a third down throw by Rivers is second to none as it sails right over the defender’s head into the hands on Vincent Jackson to move the Bolts to the Cowboys 40 yard line as the first quarter expires.

Play calling has been phenomenal here in the early going of this one as Turner has mixed up his calls masterfully to keep the Cowboys off balance. Facing a fourth down decision early in the quarter, the Chargers make the gutsy call and a sneak by Rivers picks it up by inches. San Diego enters the red zone on a third down throw in Floyd’s direction to move the chains again as the Bolts seem to be picking on Cowboys corner Mike Jenkins here in this first half. Kaeding trots onto the field after the Bolts fail to convert on third down to boots through a 29 yard field goal and move the Chargers lead to 10-3. That 14-play drive for Rivers and company was quite impressive as they converted on two third downs and one fourth down in the process to score on their two opening possessions of the contest. The ball returns to Dallas and Felix Jones gashes the Bolts on two rushes for a dozen yards each to move the Cowboys out to midfield. Some overpowering blocking by the line for the stable of Dallas running backs is just pushing the Chargers defensive front around as the drive nears the San Diego 10 yard line. The Cowboys have three plays from the Chargers one yard line and after being abused by the Dallas front line all the way down the field, the guys in the trenches for the Bolts come up with a gigantic goal line stand so exciting it could revive a corpse. After the turnover on downs, Rivers and the offense will have to move the ball off of their own goal line and staring down the barrel of the gun and the Dallas pass rush he makes his first mistake in a long while as a wobbly pass is picked off by Cowboys corner Terence Newman. At the Chargers 27, Romo and the Cowboys offense returns to the field looking to reclaim their lost points on the goal line stand. On third down a fantabulous play from C.J. Spillman to knock down the intended pass forces a Folk field goal attempt that misses wide left and the Chargers escape again without allowing any points on the board. Rivers returns with all three timeouts and 42 seconds left on the clock looking for more points as a handoff to Sproles for 6 yards and a completion to Legedu Naanee for another 15 works the Chargers into Dallas territory. From there, a Dallas sack uses up the last of the Bolts timeouts and faced with a third down that falls incomplete and the half will end with a 10-3 Chargers advantage.

After surviving the Cowboys running game in the first half, the Chargers have to look to make some adjustments to stop that attack in the final two quarters of football. With three trips inside the Chargers 25 yard line and only three points to show for it, San Diego has to feel fortunate as they emerge from the locker room and will have their offense on the field to start the third quarter. The drive begins from their own 20 after a touchback and a screen pass to Mike Tolbert moves the chains as the Bolts are quickly out to the 31. Running continues to be tough sledding for San Diego today as Tomlinson has been bottled up for just 16 yards on 9 carries to this point in the game, but a crossing pattern followed by a brilliant hands catch by Jackson on the sideline moves the Chargers into Cowboys territory. The Chargers stall out and Mike Scifres is called upon to pin the Cowboys deep in their own end which he executes beautifully as Kassim Osgood catches the kick on the fly at the Dallas 4. The Chargers defense steps up its game bottling Dallas up forcing a three and out punt that sets the Bolts up with good field position at their own 44. Some tricky motion out of the backfield as LT is sent out wide uncovered and Rivers quickly throws his direction to move the Bolts on the Dallas side of the 50. From there the Cowboys hold the Chargers as Scifres heads out for another kick and the execution is flawless yet again as Osgood is there to down this one at the 1 yard line. The big fellas on the Dallas offensive line are just manhandling the Bolts up front as Barber rushes twice out to the 20 yard line. Romo completes his first pass in nearly thirty minutes of game time to Witten before the home team returns to the ground game to move the chains again. A pair of throws to Miles Austin have the Cowboys moving the ball quite well down inside the Chargers 40 before Romo hooks up with Williams to earn a first and goal. Undisciplined in gap assignment has been plaguing the Bolts on this drive as Barber and Tashard Choice are bludgeoning their way down the field setting up the final play of the quarter from Romo to Austin for the game tying touchdown.

This one has been tight for the entire contest and the 10-10 score heading into the final fifteen minutes of action accurately represents how close this game really has been here today. Rivers takes the field with the offense at their own 26 to start the 4th quarter with a play action pass to Antonio Gates to move the chains. A scary moment as Dallas pass rusher Demarcus Ware runs head on into the hip of Brandyn Dombrowski and falls to the turf lying on his back as the cart is brought out onto the field. Ware is stabilized and placed on a stretcher before being carted back into the locker room after giving thumbs up to the onlookers. Now perhaps the most difficult moment is getting back to football as the Chargers face a critical third down and Rivers connects with Jackson down the sideline to move San Diego into the red zone on a beautifully thrown pass. The next play goes to Gates and he finds the end zone on another perfect throw under pressure from Rivers to move the Bolts back in front 17-10. Dallas begins their rebuttal with a pass to Witten who scampers for 20 yards and a fumble by Choice on the following play recovered by the Cowboys moves them back five yards getting the Bolts defense energized. San Diego holds forcing a punt and the Bolts offense returns at their own 11 with the football and 9:10 on the game clock. LT breaks a run that moves the chains and he was just a shoe string tackle away from turning that gallop into a lengthy gain. A Rivers to Jackson connection gains another 20 yards for the Bolts as they near midfield and the clock continues to tick. Time drips off of the clock as two more San Diego first downs run the clock under the three minute mark. A crucial third down completion to Gates moves the chains again for the Chargers as they enter the red zone yet again draining the Cowboys complement of timeouts in the process. After the two minute warning, Kaeding delivers another clutch kick to push the Chargers lead to 20-10 and all but ice this one away as the Cowboys have no timeouts remaining. Despite a last gasp from Dallas to narrow the margin of defeat with a touchdown to Patrick Crayton from Romo to make the score 20-17, the Chargers will leave Jerry Jones’ playground with a win.

This was another collective effort from this Bolts team to roll on with their streaking running it to eight straight victories. Brandon Siler was the unsung hero of this game delivering a number of key tackles including getting in on two of the sticks on that pivotal goal line stand near the end of the first half. This is yet another win over the NFC East for San Diego as well defeating Philadelphia, New York, and now Dallas already with Washington still on the schedule. The Chargers have to be carrying a lot of confidence on their trip home with the Bengals coming to the Q next weekend. How this season is measured will ultimately be determined in the postseason, but if the continued consistent top notch play is any indication, Chargers fans should be excited for the possibilities that the month of January will bring.

Tags: Antonio Gates, Brandon Siler, Brandyn Dombroski, C.J. Spillman, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Darren Sproles, Demarcus Ware, Felix Jones, Gerald Sensabaugh, Jason Witten, Jerry Jones, Kassim Osgood, Kris Wilson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Legedu Naanee, Malcom Floyd, Marcus McNeill, Mat McBriar, Mike Jenkins, Mike Scifres, Mike Tolbert, Miles Austin, Nate Kaeding, New York Giants, Nick Folk, Norv Turner, Patrick Crayton, Philadelphia Eagles, Philip Rivers, Quentin Jammer, Tashard Choice, Terence Newman, Tony Romo, Vincent Jackson