5 Chargers who deserve the most blame for ugly loss to Cowboys

5. Derwin James

Derwin James gave the Cowboys 30 penalty yards in the first half and that was the most impactful thing that he did all game. Two different personal fouls helped extend drives for the Cowboys, continuing an unfortunate trend for James this season.

James returned back to the lineup after not playing in Week 4 and honestly, fans would not have been able to tell the difference. James didn't do much to help the Chargers defense and when he was involved on the field it often led to something bad happening.

The first touchdown was on a read-option keep for Prescott. Tuli Tuipulotu bit hard on the hand-off and failed to set the edge. If James had read this correctly, instead of doubling down on the Ceedee Lamb screen, then the touchdown would not have happened. Prescott probably would have still picked up the first, but James would have stopped him in his tracks.

Then on the second touchdown, James blitzed Prescott off the edge. Pollard had an excellent pick-up on the blitz and bought Prescott just enough time to find Brandin Cooks on a floating touchdown pass.

James isn't the best player in coverage so he has to make plays happen on defense to make his mark. He didn't do any of that in this game, playing sloppily instead.