There's unlikely to be a shortage of motivation for the Dallas Cowboys defense come Monday night.
Dallas relinquished a season-high 421 yards of offense to the San Francisco 49ers in a 42-10 loss that saw the Cowboys allow more points than they had in their previous four games combined.
In Week 6, the Cowboys defense will face a Los Angeles Chargers offense helmed by former Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.
Cowboys safety Jayron Kearse believes emotions and motivation will be at a high.
"I'm pretty sure he wants to go out there and put it on us," Kearse said of Moore, via the team website’s Patrik Walker. "But you've gotta put in perspective what we just went through on Sunday, and how we're champing at the bit to get out there and have our next game on the road. We want to go out there and get the [bad] taste out of our mouth. I'm pretty sure he's champing at it, but we're champing at it as well."
There's bound to be a lot of champing, according to Kearse, and it makes sense for a Monday night in which a storyline stew will come to a boil.
Moore, a former Cowboys quarterback who's still just 34 years old, was the Dallas offensive coordinator from 2019-2022. In 2019 and 2021, Moore's Cowboys offense led the NFL in yards. Last season, Dallas was 11th in yards and fourth in points. Nonetheless, after a Divisional Round loss to those pesky Niners, Moore's contract wasn't renewed.
Now he's with Los Angeles, which houses the fifth-ranked NFL offense in yards gained, and head coach Mike McCarthy is calling plays for a Dallas offense that looked ghastly against San Francisco, mustering just eight first downs and 197 yards.
Kearse is all about leaving the Week 5 loss in the past, though, and moving on to stopping the Chargers.
"They beat us," he said. "They beat us bad, but that's one game and we're on to the next."
And Kearse isn't about to let a sorry showing in Northern California lead to another one in Southern California. He's aware of the tall task ahead in facing Moore and the Justin Herbert-led Bolts O. He expects a much different performance, though.
"A good team that has a lot of good weapons," Kearse said. "Obviously, Kellen is over there calling those plays. We have had a lot of work [against him]. It's a good team with good receivers, quality tight ends and a good, young quarterback in Herbert that can really throw it."
Los Angeles is coming off a bye week preceded by a two-game winning streak. The Chargers have had ample time to prepare, and Moore has no doubt done his prep work for his first opportunity to coach against the Cowboys. He'll be spurred, but so too will Kearse and his 'Boys.
"We went out there [on Sunday] and had an all-time stinker for what this defense is about," Kearse said "We're ready to go out there and play somebody as well."
