The seasons and rosters may change, but one thing is certain: The San Francisco 49ers own the Dallas Cowboys. San Francisco earned its fourth consecutive victory over its traditional NFC rival with a 30-24 win on “Sunday Night Football in Week 8. That’s the second-longest 49ers winning streak in the series history, behind only their run of six in a row from 1981-1990 when Joe Montana was running the show that was the San Francisco offense.
Dallas took a 10-3 lead into the locker room at halftime on the strength of a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Ezekiel Elliott and a 29-yard field goal by All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey, but almost the entire football world knew that margin wouldn’t hold up into the second half.
As has been typical in each of the previous three Cowboys vs. 49ers games, San Francisco erupted for a big play out of the gate in the second half to take control of the game. This time, it was a 43-yard catch-and-run by George Kittle over the middle. He cooked Dallas safety Donovan Wilson, and he chugged his way down to the Cowboys’ 4. San Francisco regained the lead, 13-10, on the very next play, a run up the middle by rookie running back Isaac Guerendo that concluded with him in the middle of the end zone.
Then, Prescott contributed to the 49ers momentum by telegraphing a pass to CeeDee Lamb on third down, and San Francisco cornerback Deommodore Lenoir secured the football for another takeaway. Seven plays later, the 49ers heartbeat — tight end George Kittle — found himself all alone in the end zone for a touchdown on National Tight End’s Day after a collision occurred to his left that was initially flagged and then not flagged for a 2-yard score.
Kittle totaled 128 receiving yards and a touchdown on six receptions, which ran his career receiving yardage total to 6,777. That’s notable because his stellar night powered him past 49ers legend Dwight Clark for the third-most receiving yards in team history. Purdy scored San Francisco’s third consecutive touchdown to begin the second on a 2-yard quarterback sneak to go up 17, 27-10. He finished with 260 passing yards and a touchdown on 18 of 26 passing in addition to 56 rushing yards and a score on eight carries.
Dallas trailed by 17 — 27-10 — at the conclusion of the third quarter, but Prescott and Lamb put lipstick on the pig with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, two wide-open completions on plays in which the 49ers either had a miscommunication (resulting in a 7-yard score) or collided with each other (resulting in a 20-yard score). That made things interesting, but four consecutive incompletions after Dallas got the football back down six, 30-24, with 3:15 left to play doomed its comeback efforts. The Cowboys quarterback has five touchdowns to eight interceptions in their four-game losing streak to San Francisco. He finished with 243 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions on 25 of 38 passing.
Lamb produced his first 100-yard game of the season, going off for 146 receiving yards and two touchdowns while catching 13 of his 17 targets. It was his seventh career game with 10-plus catches, 100-plus receiving yards and at least one touchdown, the most such games in Cowboys history.
Why the 49ers Won
They outscored the Cowboys 21-0 in the third quarter, racking up 167 of their 292 total yards and 10 of their 19 first downs. Purdy completed all seven of his passes in the quarter for 103 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 37 yards and a touchdown on the ground. San Francisco hit Dallas with one of its trademark avalanches, and the depleted Cowboys defense couldn’t take the punch. The 17-point deficit was simply too large for Dallas to overcome.
Why the Cowboys Lost
Their decimated defense, which is down their top four defensive ends and two of their top three corners, simply didn’t have the stamina to hang into the second half against San Francisco’s punishing offense. It didn’t help that Prescott threw his seventh and eighth interceptions of the season in Week 8, which are his most in the first seven games of a season in his nine-year career.
Playing with past-their-prime running backs in Elliott and Dalvin Cook and behind an offensive line with two rookies — first-round left tackle Tyler Guyton and third-round center Cooper Beebe — Prescott was swimming upstream. With Lamb blanketed on the Cowboys’ final drive, Dallas needed one other pass-catcher to make plays. It didn’t happen as speedy returner/receiver KaVontae Turpin dropped a dime Prescott placed right in his hands. There also may have been a little too much contact on his final throw of the night, a fourth-down throw to 2023 seventh-round pick Jalen Brooks, a play that also resulted in an incompletion. That also doesn’t account for head coach Mike McCarthy’s system not providing him too many easy buttons and dialing up some head-scratching play calls like Dallas’ third-down-and-5 run on the opening drive to fullback Hunter Luepke. That play predictably got stuffed, which forced a Cowboys punt.
Turning point and play of the game
The entire third quarter. San Francisco went on a game-sealing 21-0 run that had Kittle’s fingerprints all over it. His 43-yard chunk play that set up their go-ahead touchdown was the type of signature play the 49ers have relied on time and time again to bully the Cowboys and create separation between the two teams.
What’s next
The 49ers, who improved to 4-4, will sail into their Week 9 bye smiling after securing a much-needed victory after losing 28-18 at home against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8. The Cowboys, who fell to 3-4, will hit the road once again and head to the opposite coast to take on the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons (5-3).
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