The first pre-season game often does not tell you a lot about your team. However, last Saturday evening’s 31-17 victory by the San Diego Chargers over visiting Dallas did leave the coaching staff with a few smiles on their faces.
The Chargers do appear to have some good options at the backup running spot with Michael Turner (Atlanta) no longer in the fold backing up star LaDanian Tomlinson. As he often does, Tomlinson sat out the pre-season contest.
Meantime, rookie Jacob Hester from LSU ran for a pair of touchdowns and finished the night with 49 yards rushing. Darren Sproles, who went down with a knee injury a year ago, also looked sharp when handling the ball, adding a 5-yard TD run. San Diego’s other scores came on a 1-yard run by Mike Tolbert and a 53-yard field goal from Nate Kaeding.
For Hester, his welcoming to the NFL came in the form of Pro Bowl linebacker Zach Thomas, who the Cowboys picked up after his release from Miami.
“It was crazy,” Hester said. “I had my first block out there, blocking (linebacker) Zach Thomas. Once you do that, nothing really worries you anymore.”
Quarterback Philip Rivers (5-of-6, 54 yards), who played hurt in last season’s AFC Championship loss at New England, led the Chargers to two scores in the three series that he directed. The team’s opening drive was a thud, going three-and-out.
“You start out with a three-and-out and obviously you want to get it going early,” Rivers remarked. “We bounced right back and got the ball in the end zone twice.” Asked about the surgically repaired knee, Rivers added, “The knee felt fine. Even the one sack, there was nothing to it. I felt just fine out there.”
While the offense posted 31 points on the Dallas defense, San Diego’s defense was a little stingier.
After giving up an early score to start the game, San Diego allowed only 10 points the rest of the way ” with many reserves in the game.
Dallas got its two touchdowns on runs by Deon Anderson and Tashard Choice. Nick Folk added a 35-yard field goal.
“I think the offense did well, but obviously, you can always get better,” Dallas tight end Jason Witten offered. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we have this thing going the right way.”
FIFTH QUARTER: San Diego hits the road this weekend when it visits St. Louis on Saturday night at 5 p.m. The Chargers will host Seattle on Aug. 25, then travel to San Francisco on Aug. 29 to wrap up the pre-season slate. The season opener is Sept. 7 at home with Carolina. Dallas, which trains in Oxnard, will visit Denver this Saturday night. Attendance for the pre-season opener was announced at 61,946.