NFL Preseason Betting Preview
Dallas Cowboys at San Diego Chargers
Saturday, 10:00 pm Eastern – NFL Network
Even though it is just the preseason, Saturday night’s game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers should be interesting to watch as two of the top teams in the NFL week one do battle. Many of the starters will get limited time but both teams have a lot of depth. San Diego running back LaDanian Tomlinson will not play on Saturday while cornerbacks Terence Newman and Quincy Butler will not play for Dallas.
Starters for both teams are expected to go a series or two. "We've got a set amount of time we want to play them, a number of plays," Dallas head coach Wade Phillips said. "We're putting together a team, but we want to see how each individual plays and they're looking forward to showing how they can play. In some cases they're trying to make the team, some cases it's trying to be better and some cases it's a really good player trying to improve more."
Dallas QB Tony Romo led Dallas last season, throwing for a team-record 4,211 yards and 36 touchdowns. Brad Johnson will follow Romo after a couple of series on Saturday while rookie Richard Bartel will get a lot of action in the second half.
Chargers QB Philip Rivers is in his third season as San Diego’s starter. He has recovered from offseason ACL surgery. Last year he passed for 3,152 yards and 21 touchdowns. He should play a couple of series on Saturday followed by Billy Volek and Charlie Whitehurst. The Chargers added offensive linemen Jeremy Newberry and L.J. Shelton in the off-season in addition to draft choice Antoine Cason. The Chargers lost running back Michael Turner, cornerback Drayton Florence and safety Marlon McCree in the off-season.
San Diego is a 3 point favorite with a total of 48.5 at SBG Global.
Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner was the offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys from 1991-93, helping the Cowboys to win Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII. Cowboys Head Coach Wade Phillips was the Chargers’ defensive coordinator from 2004-06.
This is the 11th preseason meeting between the Chargers and Cowboys. Dallas has a 6-4 preseason series edge, though the Chargers won the last game, 28-16, in the 1990 preseason opener. The Cowboys also lead the regular-season series, having won six of the eight games.
