NFL Sophomore Watch: Can Justin Herbert repeat his magical 2020 season?

What it all means for Sunday

It was announced the day of this writing that Cowboys’ defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence broke his foot and will be out 6-8 weeks. That combined with the fact that Randy Gregory is unlikely to be ready for the game Sunday due to COVID-19 protocols could be a double blow to Dallas’ pass rush. They didn’t record a sack against the Buccaneers in their week 1 game, and they’ll likely have to play this weekend without their two best pass rushers.

Those absences will put more pressure on the back end of the defense, namely Trevon Diggs and Donovan Wilson (or his potential replacement Malik Hooker), as Justin Herbert figures to have ample time to throw.  New Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will certainly have his work cut out for him this week as he tries to game plan around injuries and keep everyone on the same page.

This game figures to be a shootout, as Vegas has set the over/under at 55.5, and the Cowboys’ offense looked terrific last week, with Dak Prescott slinging it around for 403 yards and 3 touchdowns. It also remains to be seen how good the Chargers’ defense is beyond their two blue-chippers Joey Bosa and Derwin James.

An interesting wrinkle to this game could be the crowd, as the Chargers were famous for having copious amounts of opposing teams’ fans in attendance, with Philip Rivers at one point being forced to use a silent count at home a few years back.

Regardless of which team they’re rooting for, there should be a healthy number of fans inside SoFi Stadium for this one as these two teams square off in what could eventually prove to be a pivotal showdown come December.