Pic 6: Personnel changes, pass rush struggles, more from Cowboys loss to Chargers

Bringing the Heat

The Cowboys defense was the most aggressive they had been all season, blitzing on 54.5% of Justin Herbert's dropbacks on Sunday afternoon. Still, Dallas did not record a sack, the first time that Herbert, who came into the game tied as the most sacked QB in the league, has been kept clean this season.

Without Quinnen Williams on the field, the Cowboys knew that they had to get after Herbert. They did register 13 pressures, good for a 39.4% pressure rate, but Herbert was unphased by it, completing 9 of his 11 passes while under duress for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Overall on the day, the Chargers offense recorded 452 total yards, 300 of which game through the air and 152 on the ground, 42 of which came from Herbert. Former first round pick and Texas native Quentin Johnston led the way for Los Angeles, hauling in 104 yards on four catches and a touchdown.

New Faces in New Places

The Cowboys had some personnel movement on both sides of the ball Sunday against the Chargers, with the most notable change coming on the offensive line. Tyler Smith, who has been an All-Pro at guard in his career, kicked out to left tackle, a position he's familiar with as he played four seasons of left tackle in college at Tulsa and has done so periodically with Dallas.

Smith's move to left tackle replaced Nate Thomas, who has been starting at the position in place of Tyler Guyton, who is recovering from an ankle injury. In Smith's place at left guard, T.J. Bass earned the start for Dallas.

On the defensive side of the ball, Perrion Winfrey made his debut at defensive tackle with Quinnen Williams being ruled out with neck stiffness. Additionally, Kenneth Murray started at linebacker over Logan Wilson, as the two have continued to battle for a hold of the middle linebacker position. And of course, certainly in a new place was defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, who called Dallas' defense from the coaches' box instead of on the field.

Injury Roundup

With a short week coming up for the Cowboys, they'll be dealing with some injuries heading on the road to Washington D.C. on Christmas.

Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown suffered a concussion on Sunday afternoon, which puts his status in doubt for Thursday as he'll need to clear the NFL's concussion protocol before he can return to play.

Later in the game, safety Donovan Wilson left the game with an eye injury, the third such injury suffered by a Cowboys player in the last two weeks after Tyler Smith suffered one against the Vikings, and Cooper Beebe suffered one in the first half against the Chargers. Both of them would end up returning to the game.

On the offensive side of the ball, WR Ryan Flournoy left the game with a knee injury in the first half. On Dallas' opening drive, he hauled in the first touchdown of the day for the Cowboys offense. After the game, he was able to walk into the team's locker room under his own power.

Schottenheimer's Message

After the game, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said that he addressed the team on Saturday night following the news that they'd been eliminated from playoff contention.

Despite the fact that most of the players likely already knew that the team had been/was going to be eliminated, Schottenheimer got in front of his players and believed they responded well with their effort.

"I said, 'Hey, you know, in life, you're gonna be given bad news. And when given bad news, or any news, you're given a choice of how you respond,'" Schottenheimer said. "You can't watch this film and say our guys didn't play hard. They did play hard, we [just] didn't execute very well, didn't coach well enough to win."

Historic WR Year Continues

The Cowboys have had what they've wanted and then some from their wide receiver room this season, with CeeDee Lamb's continued high level of play, the addition of Geroge Pickens and the emergence of Ryan Flournoy.

On Sunday, Lamb surpassed the 1,000 receiving yards mark for the fifth straight season, becoming just the second WR in franchise history to put up five consecutive 1,000 yard receiving seasons.

After a few quiet weeks, George Pickens exploded back onto the scene with 130 yards on seven receptions, highlighted by a 38-yard touchdown grab where Pickens beat his defender and caught Prescott's pass in-stride in the corner of the end zone. Both Lamb and Pickens are over 1,000 yards receiving this season, the first time the Cowboys have had two 1,000 yard receivers since 2019.

Flournoy was continuing his breakout year, reeling in his fourth touchdown grab of the season on the opening drive, but later left the game with a knee injury.

International Game Soon?

Following the game, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked about the possibility of an international game in the near future. Jones said that there is, as early as next year, and Dallas' goal is still to play a game in Mexico.

The tricky part is the NFL's rule on how teams that play international games get determined, which has come to bite the Cowboys a few times already.

"Frankly, we're a good draw," Jones said. "And so clubs have a right to veto a team that's the visiting team, they can veto that. And so that rule has bumped us a few times. Otherwise, if the league said you've got an international game, we'd have one."