NFL news:NFL Free Picks: Cowboys vs. San Diego Chargers

NFL news:NFL Free Picks:  Cowboys vs. San Diego Chargers

Two teams with championship aspirations meet in pre-season action tonight with both looking to work out some kinks in their schemes on both sides of the ball.

 may have the most talented and deep team they have had in years and they are looking to become the first ever team to play in the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Since this is the third game for  this summer, the starters should see a significant amount of playing time and given the depth and talent they have they could end up running over San Diego’s reserves.

The Chargers got Merriman back about 10 days ago after a hold out, but they are still dealing with two other significant contract issues and until they get resolved one way or another, team chemistry is going to be a conern. They will continue to work rookie Ryan Mathews at RB to see how he handles the pro game and if he can live up to his billing of being LT’s replacement.

The Chargers are 5-1 ATS in Week 2 of the pre-season in recent years, but the Cowboys are 7-1 ATS in the same scenario. With home field advantage usually consisting of 3 points, which is exactly what we see here, NFL bettors are giving about split action on both sides.

The last time  visited San Diego was back in the ‘08 pre-season and they lost 31-17 to the Chargers as 3 point dogs as well. That was in Week 1 of the summer season though and the Chargers reserves fed off the home energy and comfort level to power through to the win.

This game is a tough call given the strong records in the past of both teams and the goals for 2010 each team has. With both teams wanting to improve each week but also avoid injuries, this may be a more conservative game then most may think.  has had both their pre-season games play well under the total so far this season and given how strong and deep they are defensively this year a play on the under may be the best way to go in this contest.