Dallas Cowboys vs San Diego Chargers: Preseason Week 2 Live Blog
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After an ugly first half of football, the San Diego Chargers managed to come from behind in the third quarter to stun the Dallas Cowboys with a 28-20 victory.
San Diego QB Charlie Whitehurst had himself a hell of a night, throwing for 122 yards with two TD passes. Whitehurst really outdid Rivers, who ended up throwing two picks in the first half.
The Cowboys' offense performed better statistically, but late turnovers really cost them in the end.
Defensive player of the game has to go to CB Shareece Wright, who finished his night with a huge interception late in the game that led to San Diego's comeback. Wright also forced a fumble.
Well, that's it for me tonight. Fell free to leave your comments below on anything that happened tonight. There's obviously a lot to talk about after this one.
Thanks for reading, and remember to follow all our live blogs during the preseason here on Bleacher Report.
As for Dallas, well, it was their game to lose tonight. Turnovers really killed them in the end when they were leading after the first half.
Romo looked good in his outing tonight, and so did Kyle Orton, but Stephen McGee and Rudy Carpenter basically gave the game away in the end.
Really sloppy game by San Diego in the first half. They can't really rely on come from behind wins to get the job done in the regular season.
Also, the running game was absolutely atrocious. Is this team doomed without Ryan Mathews?
On the bright side, Charlie Whitehurst and Shareece Wright really proved their worth with their respective performances. I had a feeling that Whitehurst would come back strong after recovering from his injury.
Wright was a real surprise on defense, but so were the other young guns on defense.
Donald Butler had six tackles and an interception, and Melvin Ingram had three tackles and a sack tonight.
Real nice start for the younger players on this team.
San Diego QB Jarrett Lee playing it smart here by taking the kneel.
And that's all folks.
The Chargers come out of this one with the 28-20 victory over the Cowboys.
Rudy Carpenter under center, and he has the Cowboys at the SD 8-yard line with 1:39 left on the clock.
Carpenter is sacked by LB Ricky Elmore, forcing the fumble but Dallas recovers. That was a close one.
No matter though.
Carpenter hits Dwayne Harris for the 15-yard TD pass and Bailey hits the extra point.
San Diego is still up on Dallas 28-20.
Let's hope this isn't sign of a total meltdown about to happen by San Diego.
For those of you who may be wondering about the status of Vincent Brown, check out this Tweet from Sharon Annie H.
3:02 left in the fourth quarter with San Diego up 28-13. It's going to take a huge comeback for Dallas to get back in this one.
Harry How/Getty Images
San Diego takes advantage of the turnover and the great field position.
Jacob Hester comes up with the four-yard TD run.
Novak hits the extra point and the Chargers may have put the nail in the coffin as they lead this one 28-13 over the Cowboys.
Huge play on defense by the Chargers.
Shareece Wright sacked Stephen McGee, forcing the fumble which was recovered by Darryl Gamble.
Wright is giving Brandon Carr a run for his money for defensive player of the night. An interception and an a fumble recovery so far.
The Chargers have great field position in the red zone now.
Whitehurst does it again with a 38-yard TD pass to Mike Willie.
Nick Novak hits the extra point and San Diego is beginning to pull away with a 21-13 lead over Dallas.
That last interception by Shareece Wright could really shake things up in training camp. Wright has been pushing Marcus Gilchrist for the nickel position on defense, and that last interception certainly helps his cause.
Here comes Dallas again. This time, Stephen McGee is leading the charge.
Dallas QBs have been on fire tonight.
The Cowboys inching closer to that red zone looking for another score. It hasn't been big plays that are tearing up the defense, but the Chargers haven't been able to stop the bleeding.
Oops! Just as I said that, San Diego CB Shareece Wright proves me wrong with an interception that he returns all the way to the two-yard line.
Jackie Battle plows in for the score and the Chargers have turned this thing around.
San Diego leads Dallas 14-13 in the fourth quarter.
Yet another three-and-out for San Diego. The Chargers can't seem to get anything going tonight.
At the end of the third quarter, Dallas still leads San Diego 13-7.
A lot more of the same on offense here for San Diego. Whitehurst started out hot with that initial TD pass, but things have really cooled down after a three-and-out and a fumble by Whitehurst.
Dallas tacks on another score off a Dan Bailey field goal from 49 yards out. Dallas leads this one 13-7 over San Diego.
Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Big sack by rookie LB Melvin Ingram on Dallas QB Stephen McGee for a 13-yard loss.
That's exactly why the Chargers drafted Ingram with the No. 18 overall pick.
Some info on Vincent Brown's injury from San Diego based sports writer Bernie Wilson:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Vincent Brown has a left ankle injury. Norv will no doubt go into extensive detail about it after the game. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23ChargersBlackout"><s>#</s><b>ChargersBlackout</b></a>.</p>— Bernie Wilson (@berniewilson) <a href="https://twitter.com/berniewilson/status/237019808263180289" data-datetime="2012-08-19T02:55:00+00:00">August 19, 2012</a></blockquote>
Vincent Brown was carted off the field in what appears to be an ankle injury. Not good news for the Chargers.
Brown showed a lot of promise in his rookie season, and many people were predicting he'd improve this year. Tough loss.
Nate Kaeding hits the extra point and the score is now 10-7, Dallas over San Diego.
2nd year WR Vincent Brown
Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Bad news for Charger fans though. Vincent Brown was injured on that last TD catch. We'll see if he's ok.
San Diego is in the red zone now. Whitehurst has been almost perfect on this drive.
And there it is: 18-yard TD pass to Vincent Brown to make the score 10-6 with Dallas still on top.
Here we go.
Just as predicted, Whitehurst has come in guns blazing.
4-for-4 with 50 yards passing for Whitehurst on this current drive to start the half.
So far, there hasn't been any real big discrepancies in the numbers between both teams. If anything, the total yards rushing is the biggest concern for San Diego. Dallas has 47 yards while San Diego has 20.
Just not a very good job on offense by the Chargers. More than likely, we'll probably see Charlie Whitehurst start the second half, and see if he can deliver some consistent drives.
I'd really like to see that running game get it going as well. This isn't a good sign with Mathews' recent injury looming over San Diego. If the run game can't produce now, then what does that mean if Mathews can't start the season?
Somebody needs to step up.
Dallas, on the other hand, is looking exceptional tonight. Romo and Orton looked very good in the first half, aside from Orton's late interception.
The ground game has been efficient as well, totaling 47 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Brandon Carr has been the man of the night with two interceptions.
Overall, a nice first half for Dallas after they struggled to put points on the board against the Oakland Raiders last Monday.
Really ugly game so far for the Chargers. They look nothing like that team that beat the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.
Rivers has thrown two picks, and the rushing attack of Ronnie Brown and Curtis Brinkley has only managed to pick up 20 yards on the ground.
Something needs to change quick if the Chargers want to stay in this one.
San Diego is unable to capitalize on the turnover and that ends the first half.
Dallas is up 10-0 on San Diego.
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