Dallas Cowboys vs San Diego Chargers Match Player Stats On Sep 29, 2013

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 29, 2013

Chargers 30, Cowboys 21: Philip Rivers passed for 401 yards and three touchdowns and Antonio Gates caught 10 passes for 136 yards and one score as host San Diego defeated Dallas.

Rivers completed 35-of-42 passes for his second 400-yard outing of the season and fifth of his career. Danny Woodhead had two scoring receptions for the Chargers (2-2) and a suspect defense allowing 470.7 yards per game blanked the Cowboys (2-2) in the second half.

Dallas was attempting to rally from a nine-point deficit when Chargers cornerback Crezdon Butler forced Cowboys rookie receiver Terrance Williams to fumble at the San Diego 1-yard line. Richard Marshall recovered for the Chargers with 2:42 to play to snuff out Dallas’ last legitimate threat.

San Diego trailed by eight at halftime and pulled within one when Rivers tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Woodhead with 9:32 left in the third quarter. Nick Novak booted a go-ahead 23-yard field goal 14 seconds into the final quarter and San Diego increased the lead to 30-21 when Gates eluded the coverage of linebacker Sean Lee and Rivers hit him in stride for a 56-yard score with 6:54 left in the contest.

Tony Romo teamed up with Dez Bryant on second-quarter scoring plays of 5 and 34 yards and Lee returned an interception 52 yards for a score as Dallas took a 21-13 halftime lead. Rivers hit Woodhead on a 26-yard scoring play in the opening quarter and Novak had two first-half field goals.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Rivers’ fourth-quarter touchdown throw to Gates was the 200th of his career. He joins Hall of Famer Dan Fouts (254) and John Hadl (201) as the only quarterbacks in Chargers history with 200 or more touchdown passes. … Cowboys WR Miles Austin missed the contest with a hamstring injury; San Diego LB Dwight Freeney suffered a torn quadriceps and his status is unknown. … Rookie LB Manti Te'o had three tackles in his NFL debut for San Diego. ... Gates raised his career reception total to 667, fourth all-time among tight ends. He passed Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome (662 from 1978-90).