The Dallas Cowboys will be playing a second straight game in California when they meet the Los Angeles Chargers in the Kellen Moore Bowl on October 16th.
It will be their final game before taking their bye week.
Dallas will be looking to extend their series lead to 8-5 following the Monday Night matchup against its former offensive coordinator in Los Angeles.
Despite winning seven of the first 12 games, the Cowboys have been outscored 278-276 overall.
Dallas has won just two of the five games played in Texas — 2-1 at Texas Stadium but 0-2 at AT&T Stadium — and have been outscored 125-103.
But the Cowboys are 5-2 in games played in California, with a 173-153 scoring edge.
The Chargers have a three-game winning streak against the Cowboys in games played in Texas. Los Angeles has won four of the last six meetings between the two franchises.
They are 1-0 in games played in Los Angeles after a 20-17 win in 2021.
Dallas is 1-1 overall against the Chargers since they returned to Los Angeles from San Diego.
The First Meeting
The Cowboys traveled to San Diego for the first meeting between the two teams in 1972.
Dallas charged (sorry, couldn’t resist) out to a 31-0 lead. Craig Morton threw a touchdown pass to Mike Ditka, ran for another, and Mike Montgomery returned a fumble 54 yards for a score.
John Hadl threw four touchdown passes — three in the fourth quarter — but the rally fell short.
Cliff Harris, Lee Roy Jordan, and D.D. Lewis each intercepted Hadl during the game.
The Game Of The Series
The Chargers visited Texas Stadium for the first time on October 26, 1980.
Led by Coach Don Coryell and Quarterback Dan Fouts, Air Coryell battled Danny White in his first year as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback.
Both teams were 5-2 coming into the game. But the Cowboys would be without running back Tony Dorsett — the only game he would miss during the entire season.
Using a running back by committee approach, Dallas led 7-3 after the opening quarter on a Ron Springs 4-yard run.
But Fouts was just warming up, throwing second-quarter scoring passes of 58 yards to John Jefferson and nine yards to Kellen Winslow.
White had an interception returned for a score but rebounded with a 17-yard pass to Butch Johnson.
The teams went into the locker room with San Diego up 24-14.
The third quarter was all Dallas, with Timmy Newsome punching in two one-yard plunges for scores.
White added a 12-yard pass to Jay Saldi and Dallas was up 35-24 with 15 minutes remaining.
White added a nine-yard pass to Billy Joe Dupree before Fouts found Winslow for a three-yard scoring pass for the final 42-31 score.
Playoff Near Misses
Being an original AFL team, the Chargers can only face the Cowboys in the playoffs if both teams reach the Super Bowl.
This has not happened yet, but there have been close calls over the years.
Both teams reached their conference championships in 1980 and 1981. The Cowboys fell to the Eagles 20-7 in 1980, while the Chargers were edged by the Raiders, 34-27.
In 1981, the Cowboys would lose a heartbreaker to the 49ers, 28-27. The Chargers would freeze up in Cincinnati and lose 27-7.
The next closest would come at the end of the 1994 season.
Dallas would once again fall short in San Francisco, 38-28. But the Chargers managed to upset the Steelers, 17-13, to make the Super Bowl that year.
