Long TDs lift Chargers to 26-19 win as Cowboys' Lance throws 5 interceptions
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 24: Trey Lance #19 of the Dallas Cowboys runs with the ball during the second half of a preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers at AT&T Stadium on August 24, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Gett
ARLINGTON, Texas - Derius Davis ran 70 yards for a touchdown on Los Angeles' first play, Simi Fehoko caught a 78-yard scoring pass and the Chargers beat the Dallas Cowboys 26-19 in a preseason finale Saturday.
Trey Lance ran for a touchdown and threw for a score but had five interceptions, including undrafted rookie Tre’mon Morris-Brash’s 25-yard pick-6 with Dallas trailing by a point in the fourth quarter.
It could be Lance's last extensive action for the Cowboys.
The 2021 No. 3 overall pick by San Francisco played most of the preseason — without any turnovers before facing the Chargers — as Dallas tries to decide if Lance will be part of the club's future.
For now, the expiring year on Lance's rookie contract will be spent as the third QB behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush. The Cowboys traded for Lance last year after he lost the battle to be Brock Purdy's backup with the 49ers.
Easton Stick was on the throwing end of Fehoko’s long TD, but was just 11 of 28 for 109 yards with an interception otherwise as the Chargers try to sort out the backup plan behind Justin Herbert.
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All the starters sat for both teams in a game that was a Dallas-area reunion for the players who scored both of LA's offensive touchdowns.
Davis played on the TCU team that finished as the national runner-up to Georgia during the 2022 season. Fehoko, a fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in 2021, was waived by them after the preseason last year.
Davis, a receiver/kick returner, took an end-around handoff from Stick and beat everybody to the LA sideline, cutting back inside without getting touched.
Stick, who started four games last season after Herbert broke a finger on his throwing hand, hit Fehoko in stride along the sideline in the second quarter. Fehoko slipped through Andrew Booth's attempted tackle, tip-toed to stay inbounds and ran free the final 30 yards.
The fourth turnover for Stick this preseason was the sixth interception for Dallas when Stick's third-quarter pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and in the secondary before Julius Wood corralled it.
Lance showed more signs of inaccuracy, throwing behind a receiver on Tony Jefferson's second-quarter interception and missing wide-open running back Deuce Vaughn in the flat.
Lance recovered with nice touch on a throw to rookie Ryan Flournoy as they connected for the second week in a row on a fade route for a score.
His second interception was in the end zone, ending an 11-play drive to the Chargers 6-yard line in the third quarter. Lance ran 46 yards for a TD on the next possession.
Vaughn, a second-year running back whose roster status is in question, ran nine times for 53 yards. Lance was 33 for 49 for 323 yards and had 90 yards rushing.
Injury setback
The Cowboys announced before the game that cornerback DaRon Bland, who set an NFL record with five interception returns for touchdowns last season, will miss six to eight weeks because of a stress fracture in his foot. Bland will have surgery. He led the NFL with nine interceptions last season, his second.
Sitting rookies
Three rookie offensive linemen didn't play, which means they should be in the opening day lineup. Chargers right tackle Joe Alt, the fifth overall pick in the draft, had played the first two preseason games. So had Dallas' first-round pick, Tyler Guyton, and third-rounder Cooper Beebe. Guyton appears set to start at left tackle, Beebe at center.
Up next
Both teams open the season Sept. 8. The Chargers are home against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Cowboys visit Cleveland.