This Sunday night matchup lived up to the expectations, at least for the San Fransisco 49ers.
For the Dallas Cowboys, they dismantled teams like the New York Giants, New York Jets, and the New England Patriots. San Francisco, on the other hand, presented a different level of problems.
Dak Prescott led his squad into Levi Stadium with bad intentions for the Bay Area rivals.
They lost the previous two games to this team; to make matters worse, they were playoff matchups. This game had different implications than the last two.
Nevertheless, it was important for Dallas to get the proverbial “monkey” off its back.
If you watched this game, the monkey is clearly still hanging on.
Kyle Shanahan outschemed Dan Quinn and Penalties were the cherry on top
Right off the cuff, penalties against the defense helped the 49ers jump to a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the yellow flags may eventually be Mike McCarthy's reason for departure.
While the defense tried everything to keep Dallas in this game, the first quarter was reminiscent of the last two contests against the 49ers.
Watching Donovan Wilson on the first defensive play get a personal flag for trying to rearrange Christian McCaffery's facemask was a bad start.
Jayron Kearse's boneheaded play in the neutral zone remains a head-scratcher.
Cowboys S Donovan Wilson heavy hit over middle prompts an unnecessary roughness. Instead of punt, 49ers receive new set of downs on third-down stop, just like with Jayron Kearse offside penalty earlier.
Wilson was notably flagged for face mask on game's first snap.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 9, 2023
Oh, and it didn't stop there. Kearse was on fire in the first half, not in a good way.
He received a taunting penalty, but luckily for him, Wilson earned a “questionable” (at best) personal foul penalty extending another 49er possession.
Somehow, the referees were preoccupied with some unknown tasks when Tony Pollard was flipped on his head when he was clearly out of bounds.
Where is the flag?? #CowboysNation #DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/8lMXcCjCv2
— ✭ Lacy ✭ (@FBCowboysQueen) October 9, 2023
The penalties were a massive issue for Dallas, but it didn't stop there.
Kyle Shanahan's offense did a great job highlighting Brock Purdy's strengths while neutralizing Micah Parsons for most of the game.
They doubled him, ran right at him, and chipped him with a full back to a point where his pass-rushing abilities were null and void.
The 49ers ran the ball enough to keep the defense honest to hit the play-action passes to George Kittle multiple times, along with Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuels.
Three touchdowns to Kittle are unacceptable.
Dak and the offense made appearances but not enough
We can get one thing out of the way – Dak didn't turn the ball over (in the first half).
He made up for it in a big way in the second half, though.
Whether or not he disregarded Tashaun Gipson playing deep is one thing, but the ball was severely thrown to the inside on that first interception.
I'm not going to pile on with the other two. We all saw them.
Dak Prescott's stats tonight…
• 14 for 24
• 153 pass yards
• 1 TD – 3 INTs
• 51.6 passer rating pic.twitter.com/Tf6ldDyiH0— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) October 9, 2023
There was so much more to dissect. The running game could have been better. Dallas had all five of their linemen in place, but the 49ers defensive line continued to make Dak uncomfortable.
The “Texas” coast offense seemed to produce more of the same for the Dallas Cowboys.
Outside one well-designed explosive play in the red zone to KaVontae Turpin, it was an uphill climb thru the remainder of the game.
Mike McCarthy and Brian Schottenheimer have to explain how they have yet to figure out how to scheme CeeDee Lamb (4 receptions for 49 yards) open.
The injuries started to make me worry more than anything
This game got out of hand in the second half.
More importantly, injuries started to pile up. First, Dallas lost Turpin to hopefully only a sprained ankle. Even before then, Tyler Biadasz was rolled up on but was able to return.
Jourdan Lewis looked to favor his foot but was able to get up and put weight on it.
DaRon Bland also walked off the field with an undisclosed issue.
Leighton Vander Esch was helped off the field with a potential neck injury.
Lastly, Donovan Wilson was nixed up.
Dallas needs the clock to strike zero. It wasn't their night. They learned a lot about themselves, and it could have been better.
The Cowboys find themselves on the losing end of a 42-10 shellacking. It's going to be a long week.
