For the second straight week on Monday Night Football, an AFC West team might have home field advantage in name only when it hosts an NFC club as the Dallas Cowboys (3-2) visit the Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) to conclude Week 6, with the Cowboys as 1.5-point favorites. Last Monday, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas was overrun by Green Bay fans, although it didn't help the Packers much in the end as they lost to the Raiders. The Chargers are rarely the "home team" at SoFi Stadium, so expect a clear majority of Cowboys fans in attendance. Viewers may want to note that there is no ManningCast this week. 

Dallas won its season opener on the road at the New York Giants, but in retrospect it wasn't a quality victory, and the Cowboys have been beaten in each of their two away games since by double digits (Arizona and San Francisco). Their wins over the Jets, Giants and Cardinals -- not exactly heavyweights -- aren't all that impressive. Dallas will enter its bye week after Monday's game. Under head coach Mike McCarthy, the Cowboys are 2-1 straight up and 3-0 against the spread the week before the bye. 

The Chargers are notorious for finding unusual ways to lose games, and they did that in the first two weeks but followed with back-to-back wins entering their bye. That week off likely came at a great time because the Bolts were down several of their top players in Week 4 but managed to beat the Raiders anyways. Los Angeles is 1-1 SU and ATS under Brandon Staley out of its bye.

No doubt one big storyline Monday will be Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, a former long-time OC and backup quarterback in Dallas, facing his former team for the first time. The Cowboys put up great numbers under Moore, but McCarthy opted to make the change after another playoff flameout this past January and eventually said this about his former assistant: 

"I've been where Kellen has been: Kellen wants to light the scoreboard up. But I want to run the damn ball so I can rest my defense. I don't desire to be the No. 1 offense in the league. I want to be the No. 1 team in the league with a number of wins and a championship."

The Cowboys twice ranked first in yards (2019, 2021) and once ranked first in points ('21) in Moore's four seasons as OC. Last year, they were sixth in rushing attempts, 11th in total offense and fourth in points.  

Just like McCarthy entered this year on a hot seat, so did Staley. He fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Shane Day only a few days after the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead in their January Wild Card Game loss to the Jaguars. One issue with the Chargers? They couldn't run the ball effectively to hold a lead. So Staley hired Moore, and Los Angeles is in the top 10 in total and scoring offense. 

Dallas is averaging 21.2 offensive-only points per game this year, 5.2 fewer than 2022; Los Angeles is averaging 27.5 offensive-only points, 5.0 more than 2022. It's an interesting chess game speculating if the Chargers have the advantage with Moore knowing the tendencies of Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, or if Dallas has the edge because Quinn knows Moore's tendencies. 

We'll take you through every aspect of the Cowboys-Chargers Monday night game that you need to know before you lock in your bets, including SportsLine expert picks, props, trends, injury information and everything else that will help you know which plays are worth making for the primetime matchup.

Who wins Cowboys vs. Chargers in the Week 6 Monday Night Football game, and what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread hit HARD? Join SportsLine right now to see everything you need to know about the game in the sixth Monday night matchup of the 2023 season!