Week 6 of the 2023 NFL season might as well be renamed "Fight Week." There was the pregame fight ahead of the Cleveland Browns vs. San Francisco 49ers game on Sunday afternoon, and the brawl between the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants that night. The urge to fight in the NFL extended to Monday night.
The Los Angeles Chargers hosted the Dallas Cowboys for the Week 6 edition of Monday Night Football. Ahead of the game, a group of Chargers and Cowboys players converged near a sideline with players bumping into each other. That then led to a shoving match between a couple of players, before it escalated into a brawl.
The Cowboys and Chargers got into it ahead of #MNF 😳 pic.twitter.com/0y7dVEjsWF
— ESPN (@espn) October 16, 2023
Just had a pregame fight between the Cowboys and Chargers pic.twitter.com/GOqRdYOmMH
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 16, 2023
Cowboys and Chargers get into fight ahead of Monday Night Football
Considering how many players were pushing each other, it was hard to really see who did what.
One of the more notable things that you could see is Chargers running back Austin Ekeler getting his helmet ripped off as he was trying to separate both teams. The player who knocked off Ekeler's helmet was Cowboys defensive end Dante Fowler Jr.
ESPN got a good close-up of Dante Fowler connecting with a right hand on #Chargers RB Austin Ekeler. pic.twitter.com/Pf4S3KNaKU
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 17, 2023
There is one big storyline attached to this game. This will be Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore's first game against the Cowboys since the two sides parted ways after the season. After serving as offensive coordinator for Dallas from 2019 until 2022, head coach Mike McCarthy decided that he would call the plays in 2023.
Moore hasn't added any fuel to the fire of the "revenge game" narrative. However, Chargers wide receiver Simi Fehoko did so, saying that Moore wants to drive up the score against the Cowboys.
“Kellen wants to put up 100 points if he can,” said Fehoko, h/t The Athletic. “And he’s going to keep scoring if he can.”
The Cowboys are looking to bounce back from a brutal 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week. Meanwhile, the Chargers are returning from their bye last week to get above .500. Based on what happened in pregame, there could be a lot of bad blood when the game begins.