5 causes for concern for the Chargers against the Cowboys in Week 16

The Chargers have an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot with a win against the Cowboys on Sunday.

Here are a few reasons to be pessimistic about their ability to get it done.

Pressure rate

While Dallas has only turned pressure into sacks at the 20th-best clip in the NFL, the Cowboys have four players - Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa, Donovan Ezeiruaku, and Kenny Clark - in the top 50 of PFF's pass rush win rate metric. Especially concerning is that three of those four are interior players, where LA has been vulnerable all season. Justin Herbert also tends to look to step up and scramble through the middle of the pocket, which makes it a bit tougher to protect against pass rushes.

Dynamic duo

Generally, when the Chargers decide to play more man coverage, it's against teams that have a clear no. 1 wide receiver. Even against the Eagles, whose WR2 DeVonta Smith has a strong argument as one of the best secondary options in the league, LA stuck man coverage specialist Cam Hart on AJ Brown and let the two duke it out all evening. Against the Cowboys, the Chargers will need a second corner to step up in those situations because both George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb are well-versed in creating their own looks. Lamb will likely cross the 1,000-yard threshold on Sunday, which will put both Cowboys receivers in the quadruple digits.

Safety depth

Elijah Molden is questionable, while RJ Mickens is out. That brings the Chargers to fifth safety Marcus Williams next to Tony Jefferson when LA goes to nickel and has Derwin James Jr. in the slot, which is their preferred location for him. James can also shift back with Tarheeb Still taking more reps inside with Hart and Donte Jackson on the boundary, but that robs the Chargers defense of some of its versatility in using James. LA also signed Marcus Maye to the practice squad on Tuesday as additional insurance. Against a Cowboys offense that wants to attack vertically, testing that depth could have severe consequences for an explosive play or two.

Run game consistency

Cowboys running back Javonte Williams has scored in his last three games and is sixth in the NFL in rushing yards with 1,113, thanks to a strong offensive line in Dallas and the emergence of offensive coordinator Klayton Adams, who has revived Williams' career while making many of the Cowboys' opponents look silly. LA has been strong against the run in recent weeks, ranking first in the league with 71.3 yards allowed over their last three games, but the Chargers overall are still allowing over 100 yards a contest on the season.

Shootout potential

Can the Chargers score 30 points with the offense looking the way it has in the last two weeks? Los Angeles has done so twice, against the Vikings in Week 8 and the Raiders in Week 13, and Dallas gives up 30 a game, but Justin Herbert has gone over Dallas' average of 254 passing yards allowed only 4 times, with the last coming in Week 7 in a blowout loss to the Colts. The Cowboys showed last week against a top-10 Vikings defense that they can still score even if Dak Prescott doesn't play at his peak, so the Chargers will need to meet that challenge against a soft defense.

This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Reasons why the Chargers could lose to the Cowboys: Week 16 concerns