Los Angeles CHARGERS (vs Dallas)
The Chargers scored only 20 points in their opener, but it's looking like they'll have a top-10 offense. That Week 1 game was on the road against Washington, which might have a top-5 defense, and the Chargers easily could have scored in the 30s. They had a ...

bizarre fumble through the end zone, and the game ended with them kneeling on the ball inside the 10. They're facing a much weaker defense this week, and there will be more pressure to score (with Dallas also having a good offense). ... Justin Herbert is a top-tier quarterback, and he should come through with big numbers. Tom Brady just put up 379 yards and 4 TDs against this group, and while Herbert isn't that experienced and his weapons aren't quite as good, he looks like a similar kind of talent. Herbert just passed for 337 yards and a touchdown at Washington in a more difficult situation. Herbert averaged 289 passing yards per game last year, with 31 touchdowns (and another 4 TDs on runs). ... Austin Ekeler should be very good. He oddly didn't catch any passes last week -- wasn't even targeted -- but we're comfortable assuming that's an aberration. Perhaps they didn't want to overwork him, with Ekeler missing two practices last week with a hamstring injury. Or maybe it was something to do with the matchup. Whatever the reason, ...

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... Ekeler in the previous two seasons averaged 5.6 catches per game. He's one of the best in that area of the game, and they'll get him going. Ekeler isn't as noteworthy as a runner. He ran for 57 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, and that's in line with his usual production; he averaged 53 rushing yards in his 10 starts last year. He'll face a defense that was solid against the run last week, but the Cowboys ranked next-to-last against the run last year. ... Larry Rountree should be the main change-of-pace back. He was on the field for twice as many plays in the opener as Justin Jackson (with Joshua Kelley not playing at all). Rountree has more tackle-breaking ability than those guys. We're not recommending Rountree as a usable player at this point, but looks like a guy who should be stashed away in leagues where many of the backup running backs are rostered. ... We're high on the wide receivers. There's a rapport between Herbert and Keenan Allen. In their 11 full healthy games together last year, Allen caught 93 passes for 909 yards and 7 TDs. And Allen kicked off with one of those kind of games in Week 1, catching 9 for 100. Mike Williams has been underused at times, but it looks like his role might be larger this year. Williams caught 8 for 82, with a touchdown, in the opener at Washington. Williams in his last 10 full, healthy games with Herbert last year caught 39 passes for 634 yards and 5 TDs -- they like his leaping ability around the end zone. ... We're not ready to talk up any of the other wide receivers. Jalen Guyton logged a starter-type role in Week (on the field for two thirds of their plays) but caught only 3 passes for 49 yards. One of their other reserve receivers, K.J. Hill, hardly played but also caught 3 passes. ... Tight end Jared Cook looks serviceable. He saw 8 targets in the opener (3rd-most on the team), finishing with 5 catches for 56 yards. The Dallas defense struggled against another 30-something tight end in Week 1, with Rob Gronkowski catching all 8 passes thrown his way, but Cook isn't the same kind of tight end. ... Tristan Vizcaino is relatively unproven, but he looks like a serviceable enough kicker. He's converted all 9 of his kicks in his two pro games. Certainly, there will be lots of scoring in this game. ... We're cool on the Chargers Defense. They have an up-and-coming innovative coaching staff, but they might not have the talent to create much mayhem this week. Dak Prescott was facing a Tampa Bay defense last week that's overloaded with pass rushers up front, yet took only 1 sack. Prescott has thrown 5 interceptions in his six starts since Mike McCarthy showed up -- not the kind of quarterback who typically throws many errant balls. Los Angeles had only 1 sack, with no interceptions, in its win at Washington.