Dallas Cowboys studs and duds in Week 2 win over Chargers

The Dallas Cowboys moved to 1-1 on the season with a 20-17 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Here were the players who stood out in the victory.

After losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a last-second field goal in Week 1, the Dallas Cowboys ended up doing the same thing to the Los Angeles Chargers this week. Greg Zuerlein, who had a ton of issues last week drilled a 56-yard field goal to give Dallas the 20-17 win.

However, there was a lot that happened before that kick. The Cowboys had a lot of players stand out but they also had their share of mistakes — and if we’re going to be honest, both teams tried to blow this game.

In the end, Dallas won and we now look back over the game with our Week 2 studs and duds.

Stud: Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott

Kellen Moore deserves praise for this as well because he finally started to get Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard going at the same time. And the results were fantastic.

Pollard led the way with 109 yards rushing and 31 receiving while also scoring the first touchdown of the game. Elliott finished with 71 yards on the ground and 26 as a receiver. He also scored a touchdown and almost had one before the half on a crazy lateral play.

In all, Dallas had 198 yards on the ground. This was an elite performance by a two-headed monster that needs to continue to share the carries like this.

Dud: Pass defense

Dan Quinn has done some good things already as the Cowboys defensive coordinator but still has work to do. There were two huge picks but overall, the Dallas pass defense gave up 338 yards to Justin Herbert.

And had it not been for some bad penalties by Los Angeles, it would have been much worse. Dallas had two touchdowns called back thanks to penalties which is the only reason Herbert and the L.A. receivers didn’t hang 30 on them. They were able to steal a win this week but this could be a problem if it keeps up going forward.