The Dallas Cowboys dropped to 3-2 on the season after a 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium.
San Francisco has had Dallas’ number as of late, eliminating the Cowboys from the NFL playoffs two years in a row and winning the last three meetings between the two storied rivals.
“A very humbling loss,” head coach Mike McCarthy told the media postgame. “… I just had a quick reflection on the five games that we’ve played, and it’s been a wide range of performance[s] — as wide a range as I can ever recall in a five-week period. The biggest thing for us is to be accountable. It was clearly humbling, but it is just one game.”
The 49ers controlled the game from the get-go, taking the opening drive 75 yards as quarterback Brock Purdy found tight end George Kittle for the first of three touchdowns from the duo on the night.
Dallas gained just eight yards on its first four possessions and fumbled the ball away early. Luckily, the defense stepped up and forced a fumble from San Francisco, but the offense continued to struggle. The unit finally found the end zone on a 26-yard pass from quarterback Dak Prescott to wide receiver KaVontae Turpin with 7:45 remaining in the first half.
However, the Cowboys could never replicate the drive, adding just a Brandon Aubrey field goal to start the second half after San Francisco took a 21-7 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, San Francisco continued to dominate, outscoring Dallas 21-3 in the second half and taking advantage of three turnovers to build a commanding lead. Kittle and Purdy connected for a score once again, and fullback Kyle Juszczyk and running back Jordan Mason added late touchdowns.
Purdy finished the game with 252 passing yards and four touchdown passes, while the San Francisco rushing attack amassed 170 yards.
Prescott led Dallas’ offense with 153 yards, a touchdown pass, and three interceptions.
***
WHAT TO KNOW
— The Dallas Cowboys suffered their worst loss of the season in San Francisco on Sunday night, allowing more points in the game than they had collectively through the season’s first four.
— San Francisco took a 20-19-1 lead in the all-time series.
— Aubrey has now made 14 consecutive field goals to begin his NFL career.
— Both teams opted to play their backup quarterbacks in the fourth quarter.
— Six Dallas players left the game with injuries.
***
BY THE NUMBERS
— Prescott entered the game with just one interception thrown this season but threw three on Sunday.
— The Cowboys had just 197 total yards and were held to 21 rushing yards in the first half.
— San Francisco was 4/5 in the red zone, while Dallas’ offense had zero possessions in the red zone.
***
WHO SAID
— McCarthy on individual performances: “I don’t foresee a whole lot of winning grades coming out of this performance. I think the most important thing for all of us is just to be accountable. Be accountable for what you did tonight and how you played. We’ve got to clean our own house up.”
— Prescott on the lack of rhythm on offense: “[We had] the one drive, and other than that, [we] didn’t get anything going really. … We didn’t get any momentum going other than that one drive, and it was our only success of the night.”
***
NEXT UP
The Cowboys (3-2) will travel to Los Angeles to face the Chargers (2-2) at 7:15 p.m. CT on Monday, October 16.
