Cowboys countdown to kickoff: Top 100 iconic games – Day 76

It is Day 76 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff. We are looking back at the 100 most iconic games in Dallas Cowboys history. The countdown will leads us right up to the opening game of 2026. Our look back doesn’t depend on just one criteria for our rankings. We take into consideration things like how big the game was for the organization, how memorable the game was, games that had unusual events take place, games that are a part of NFL lore, Cowboys firsts, and games where the Cowboys just plain dominated. Variety is the spice of life and we have all different kind of Cowboys games to review. At the bottom, we’ll link each day of the countdown so you can go back and check out any you missed.

We bring you Day 76 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff, and we revisit an early-season road win that helped steady the Cowboys after a frustrating opening-night loss. Dallas had played well in Week 1 against the defending champion Buccaneers but left Tampa with a 31-29 defeat. Nine days later, the Cowboys went to Los Angeles for the Chargers’ first regular-season home game at SoFi Stadium, and it didn’t disappoint.

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Sunday, September 19, 2021 — 4:25 p.m. ET

SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California

Final Score: Dallas Cowboys 20, Los Angeles Chargers 17

Dallas came out sharp. The Cowboys took the opening possession and scored first on a Tony Pollard touchdown run, then Trevon Diggs intercepted Justin Herbert on the Chargers’ first drive. Los Angeles got payback and turned a Dak Prescott interception into a field goal, but Dallas answered with a five-yard Ezekiel Elliott touchdown run to build a 14-3 first-quarter lead.

The Chargers fought back in the second quarter. Herbert found Mike Williams for a 12-yard touchdown, and Austin Ekeler’s two-point conversion cut the Dallas lead to 14-11. Los Angeles had a chance to tie the game before halftime after a Cowboys roughing-the-kicker penalty extended a late drive, but Tristan Vizcaino missed from 44 yards, allowing Dallas to keep the lead at the break.

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The second half became a grind. Vizcaino made a third-quarter field goal to tie it 14-14, but the Cowboys defense came up with one of the biggest plays of the game when Damontae Kazee intercepted Herbert in the end zone. Dallas then leaned on the run game, with Pollard ripping off chunk gains to set up a 34-yard Zuerlein field goal early in the fourth quarter.

Los Angeles answered with another long drive and had a touchdown wiped away by penalty, forcing the Chargers to settle for a 29-yard field goal that tied the game at 17-17. That left Prescott and the offense just under four minutes to win it. The drive was not especially elegant, and the clock management drew questions, but Dallas moved from its own 13-yard line to the Chargers’ 38. From there, Zuerlein drilled a 56-yard field goal as time expired, giving the Cowboys their first win of the 2021 season.

The win was powered by balance. Prescott completed 23 of 27 passes for 237 yards, while Pollard ran for 109 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Elliott added 71 rushing yards and a score, and Dallas finished with 198 yards on the ground. The Chargers actually outpassed the Cowboys, with Herbert throwing for 338 yards, but Dallas won the turnover battle 2-1 and made enough situational plays to survive.

This game belongs on the countdown because it was a tone-setter for the 2021 Cowboys. They were banged up, on the road for a second straight week, playing in a showcase building, and facing one of the NFL’s brightest young quarterbacks. Instead of falling to 0-2, Dallas found a way to win a tight game with defense, the run game, and a kicker who had taken heat after Week 1. It was not the loudest win of the season, but it was one of the first signs that the Cowboys were going to be a real NFC factor.