The Monday Night Football matchup on October 16 is drawing more watch and wager interest—despite the worst offensive performances and scoring this season on Sunday. The Week 6 games thus far have averaged just 36.7 points per game, and over/under game totals are 2-12. The Cowboys and Chargers are featured in a primetime clash on ESPN and ABC at 8:15 p.m. ET from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Neither the Cowboys (3-2) nor Chargers (2-2) are leading their divisions, but both are playoff contenders with this a key game in the standings. Dallas is chasing the Philadelphia Eagles (5-1), who were upset Sunday by the underdog New York Jets in the closing minutes, 20-14. The Cowboys have a bye next Sunday before hosting the Rams and the key game at Philadelphia November 5.

The Chargers are chasing the Kansas City Chiefs (5-1), who beat the Broncos 19-8 Thursday to kickoff the low-scoring Week 6 of NFL action. Los Angeles enters this MNF contest off a bye, and star RB Austin Ekeler returns from an ankle injury for his first action since going down in Week 1. The Chargers also have a big game this Sunday, October 22 at Kansas City.

The game total is 50.5 points with the -1.5 spread down from -2.5 favoring Dallas across the board at the leading online sportsbooks, who report more than 60% of the spread bets and money on Dallas.

NFL Week 6 injury reports

Chargers RB Austin Eckeler (ankle) appears ready to return to action Monday, but center Corey Linsley is on injured reserve. Other injuries and players to monitor include Edge rusher Joe Bosa (toe), who is still questionable, but his backup and safety Alohi Gilman (heel) is doubtful. However, SS Derwin James returns for the Chargers, while Dallas LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck) goes on IR. Chargers WR Joshua Palmer (groin) was added to the injury list Sunday and is questionable to play.

Scoring has also been UNDERwhelming this season on NFL Monday Night Football. The over/unders have gone 1-6, and are 9-28 ‘under’ the last three years. The Playbook Sports newsletter adds that Dallas 1-11 Under the game total in the second of back-to-back road games, 1-6 Under its last seven games against the AFC West, and the Chargers are 1-6 Under in games before facing the Chiefs. That should have your “under-divided” attention, if you tackle trends more than game matchups.

Note too that Dallas is 8-0 straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS) as an away favorite when coming off a loss of 17+ points. The Cowboys are also 5-0 SU and ATS on Mondays when coming off a loss of 14 or more points

Some popular MNF player props offerered at FanDuel Sportsbook include: (anytime scorer odds in parenthesis)

Power Plays stats and computer projections show this as a very close matchup in total yards, and both teams gaining more than 340 yards offense.

Former Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore now calls plays as the OC of the Chargers, which adds another storyline and scoring interest to this MNF matchup.

According to Dr. Bob Sports, here are some additional stats to digest for the Monday Night Football matchup.

Also, Dallas has run 80 plays in the red zone this season with only eight touchdowns to show for it. The Cowboys offense was held to less than 200 yards in last week’s 42-10 smackdown by San Francisco while committing four turnovers including three interceptions by Dak Prescott. Prior to facing the 49ers, the Cowboys ranked 10th in EPA per play despite the team facing the easiest strength of schedule in the league.

The Dallas defense has allowed 5.1 yards per play, but 6.1 over their last three contests after getting whacked by the 49ers. The Cowboys defense also ranks 25th in run stop win rate, and the Chargers' offensive line ranks sixth in run block win rate.

Both running backs Pollard and Ekeler figure to be very involved in the offense and game plan. The quarterbacks will also be throwing plenty for these two teams to snap the scoring slump this week and on this season’s Monday Night Football matchups.

You can bet on it.