Few truths have emerged through a cloudy and confusing first three months of the NFL season. The AFC wild-card race, in particular, is a gross, murky swamp. But maybe the Chargers, everyone's favorite fourth-quarter joke, provided a little clarity in that particular situation with their 28-6 drubbing of the Cowboys on Thanksgiving afternoon. 

The focus and attention probably could easily center on Dallas' quick fall from grace after last year's 13-3 season, but the Chargers are worthy of playoff-caliber attention after dropping a second-half Turducken on Jerry Jones team. Up just 3-0 at the break, the Chargers promptly laid the wood to a skidding Cowboys team after the break and inserted themselves into the AFC playoff race.

We knew the NFC is loaded, but we're still looking for some AFC contender to rise up out of the maw that is the wild-card race and grab hold of a spot. We saw glimpses of that team in Dallas on Thanksgiving, with the Chargers winning their second straight game by more than 20 points, finally starting to fulfill the promise that some lunatics saw before the season in this wayfaring franchise. 

Maybe Dallas is reeling -- the Cowboys have been outscored 74-6 in the second half of the last three games. Maybe the Chargers just caught them at the right time. Or maybe Los Angeles is surging. 

L.A. is going to go as far as Philip Rivers will take them, and the quarterback has flown under the radar this season. With a game more than the leaders, he is No. 4 in the NFL in passing yards (2,948), fifth in touchdown passes (20) and has thrown just seven interceptions a year after tossing a league-leading 21 picks. 

And what we saw from Rivers on Sunday was vintage Phil, one of the best back-shoulder throwers in the league, unafraid to stand in the pocket and push the ball down the field.

This is the vertical, multiple-threat offense we expected to see, with the added bonus of Rivers actually getting some protection up front. Mike Williams, the team's first-round pick this year, was carted off with a knee injury, but the rest of the receivers ended up putting on a show. Tyrell Williams (above) high-pointed a perfect throw from Rivers for a touchdown that really took the air out of Dallas.

And Keenan Allen, who has been coming on strong the last two weeks, destroyed several Dallas defenders in the open field for a score.

Allen, over the last two games, has 23 catches for 331 yards and three touchdowns. He has the talent to be a monster WR1 but has been relatively quiet this season. He is suddenly third in the NFL in receiving yards at 927. 

All told, Rivers posted a 78.9 percent adjusted completion percentage according to PFF, meaning he basically was operating at 80 percent accuracy. That's absurd. The whole operation offensively just looked like the unit we though we'd see from the get-go given the personnel. 

The schedule is favorable moving forward -- the Browns in Week 13 are the only top-half defense (based on Football Outsiders DVOA) left on the Chargers schedule. And they don't play a team remaining that allows less than 22 points. 

Week/Opponent

PPG Allowed (Rank)

Defensive DVOA Rank

Week 13 vs. CLE

25.9 (28)

13

Week 14 vs. WAS

25.1 (24)

19*

Week 15 at KC

22 (14)

25

Week 16 at NYJ

22.2 (16)

20

Week 17 vs. OAK

24.7 (22)

32

The combo of Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram did not register a sack, but the defense dominated the Cowboys, holding them to less than 100 yards in the first half, keeping Dallas under 100 rushing yards for the game and keeping the Cowboys off the scoreboard until a meaningless fourth-quarter touchdown. 

Here's a fun idea for you: what happens if Rivers catches fire over the next five weeks and the Chargers storm into the playoffs? He hasn't been anywhere near the MVP discussion over the first half of the season, and that's both fine and fair. Any chatter to that regard is going to require at least a winning record. Tom Brady and Carson Wentz have healthy leads, but recency bias is a real thing. 

We're not expecting a 27-for-33, 434-yard, three-touchdown effort in every single game, but if he put up 350 and two touchdowns the rest of the way he'd be well over 4,500 passing yards for the season with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. That's an MVP-caliber season.

It might be too tough to overcome the lead, but voters love a good story, and Rivers resurrecting the Chargers for a wild-card berth -- or even a division title, depending on what the Chiefs do -- would be a hard wave not to get caught up in. It at least warrants keeping his name in the discussion for the stretch run. 

Where now for the Cowboys?

There is a very good case to be made that the Cowboys are toast now this season. The Cowboys lost their third straight game on Sunday and have now been outscored 74-6 in the second half of those games.

Prior to the Thanksgiving game, NFL on CBS analyst Boomer Esiason explained why the Cowboys were struggling and his breakdown was spot on for the Chargers game. The Cowboys' defense can't hold up long enough to let the offense work, and the offense, without Tyron Smith at 100 percent and without Ezekiel Elliott on the field, simply isn't as explosive. Dez Bryant has been an incredible receiver during his career, but he doesn't get the same separation he used to.  

There's just a lot to question here. Does the roster building style of the Cowboys work from a sustainable factor? As good as the Cowboys were last year with the addition of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, they're still susceptible to a couple of key injuries. Sean Lee going down and Smith being banged up basically renders this team middle of the pack at best. The Cowboys in their current state don't appear capable of competing with the elite NFL teams, having been manhandled by the Falcons, Eagles and Chargers in successive weeks.

They can still win out and make the postseason for sure, but that feels like a pipe dream at best. What about the future of Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell? Do the Cowboys' struggles cause their owner to press even harder against the commissioner in his quest to keep Goodell from getting a new extension? It's hard to imagine Jerry watching his team, which he believed before the season to be a Super Bowl contender, struggle down the stretch and pin it on anyone other than Goodell for the six-game Elliott suspension. 

And does this mean anything for Jason Garrett's future? Jones has stood by his man for years now, but at a certain point you have to question the lack of adjustments made by this coaching staff in and around halftime of these losses. Even if the lack of success is largely injury- and roster-based, there is certainly some culpability that should fall on the coaching staff. Jones has hesitated to point towards Garrett previously. It'll be interesting to see what happens if the Cowboys are not even in the playoff conversation come Week 16 or so. 

The Vikings are elite

For whatever reason, we've had a hard time classifying the Vikings with the Eagles when it comes to the NFC's best. That should stop, because Minnesota truly looks like one of the best teams in football. The biggest problem is that no one, including the Vikings, wants to believe in Case Keenum. 

All Keenum did on Thankgiving was complete 21-of-30 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns, another ho-hum day where he hung tough in the pocket and wasn't afraid to take chances down the field.

That's a big-boy throw. Keenum isn't some elite starter, but he is capable of elevating the people around him and managing the game but also taking necessary risks and getting aggressive with his throws when its warranted.

It helps that he has weapons, of course, but you can also tie Adam Thielen's explosion to Keenum's rise as well. Thielen became the first Vikings wide receiver to top 1,000 yards (Sidney Rice!) on Thanksgiving.

Even with the loss of Dalvin Cook and the injury suffered by Stefon Diggs for a stretch of the season, the Vikings have found other options. Kyle Rudolph caught two touchdown passes against Detroit, and Latavius Murray has been more than serviceable running the ball for Minnesota. 

The defense doesn't need much praise, right? It is a loaded unit, capable of shutting down any team in the NFL. Mike Zimmer's crew has been the strength for a while, but the offense has begun to catch up. 

The larger point here is that Minnesota wouldn't be a surprise team to come out of the NFC at this point. They are likely going to win the division and they are going to potentially serve notice over the next two weeks as to whether or not they will be having a bye to start the playoffs.

Matchups against the Falcons and Panthers await in consecutive games and then things get easy. If Minnesota keeps its roll going, it could see a home game in February.

Can't stop watching

The Chargers' backup kicker thing is a legitimate problem. And you can read more about it here. But just know that you won't be able to stop watching him miss this kick on a practice net.

New way for a baby name

Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen actually watched his new kid being born while on FaceTime before the Vikings game against the Lions on Sunday during warmups. Griffen decided to play the game, so he missed the birth. But he played pretty inspired, picking up a pair of sacks during the game. 

After one of them, Griffen lifted up his T-shirt to reveal a question for viewers: what should he name his kid?

He's said after that he plans on checking social media to see if there are any good names to actually use, but also plans to check with his wife. Great player, smart man. Never name a baby without asking your wife first. 

Tiny 'Doo

Speaking of children, the Baby Ben McAdoo at the Redskins-Giants game was easily the highlight of an otherwise incredibly boring game that took place on Thanksgiving night.