The Cowboys’ fanbase could choose to be pessimistic after the club left Los Angeles with a narrow victory over the Chargers. The team couldn’t run the ball at all, the pass blocking wasn’t much better, and the team wasn’t disciplined. They committed 14 penalties, 11 accepted and seven of the pre-snap variety.
However if the fans want to be optimistic, this was a game set up for the Dallas Cowboys to lose that still ended in victory. For the first time all year the club played a close game, and they escaped.
Last season, every San Francisco 49ers opponent but one (the world champion Kansas City Chiefs) lost the following week. This year, only the Steelers had been able to avoid that trend. The 49ers are rugged to deal with and wear an opponent down physically and mentally.
The Chargers were coming off a bye week, which allowed them to bring back Austin Ekeler plus play Derwin James Jr. and Joey Bosa. Dallas also had a brutal travel schedule, traveling to California and playing in primetime back-to-back weeks.
Sometimes leaving plenty to work on can be a positive going into a bye week. The team needs to look at the major takeaways of this win and how to use them to improve the team going into another matchup with a West Coast team in two weeks.