ARLINGTON, Texas — Quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers couldn’t clinch an AFC playoff berth with a victory Sunday at AT&T Stadium. They needed a victory to move closer, of course, plus a little help from either the Las Vegas Raiders or the San Francisco 49ers.
The Chargers did their part by beating the Dallas Cowboys, 34-17, for their fourth win in a row.
Then the waiting game started.
In the simplest terms, the Chargers (11-4) needed either the Raiders to defeat the Houston Texans later Sunday afternoon or the 49ers to defeat Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night in order to clinch for the second time in Jim Harbaugh’s second season as their coach.
Herbert directed the Chargers to scores on their first four possessions and five of their first six as they took a 27-17 lead near the midway point of the fourth quarter. Herbert threw first-half touchdown passes to Quentin Johnston and Ladd McConkey and also scored on a 1-yard run.
Two fourth-down stops in the second half loomed large for a Chargers’ defense that struggled to contain Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the first half. Prescott threw touchdown passes to Ryan Flournoy and George Pickens in the first half and Brandon Aubrey kicked a field goal for Dallas (6-8-1).
Omarion Hampton’s 5-yard touchdown run made it 34-17 with 4:48 left.
The Chargers took another hit on their offensive line when left tackle Jamaree Salyer injured his hamstring in the first quarter. Austin Deculus replaced Salyer, who had replaced Joe Alt (season-ending ankle injury), who had replaced Rashawn Slater (season-ending knee injury).
Right tackle Trey Pipkins III was sidelined by an ankle injury for the second game in a row. Bobby Hart replaced him.
It hardly seemed to matter as the Chargers’ exploited the Cowboys’ porous defense, building a 21-17 lead by halftime. The Chargers scored touchdowns on each of their three first-half possessions, with Herbert throwing two touchdown passes and sneaking 1 yard for a third.
The Chargers extended their lead to 24-17 entering the fourth quarter on Cameron Dicker’s 37-yard field goal with 11:51 remaining in the third. The Chargers forced the Cowboys to punt for the first time in the game and later stopped them on a 4th-and-1 from the 16-yard line.
More to come on this story.
