After further review: Another no-show for Dak Prescott and the Cowboys running game in loss to 49ers

It is still hard to believe how flat the Cowboys were in San Francisco.

The Dallas Cowboys lost to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. In a vacuum, that’s not all that disappointing. The 49ers are a good team, they were playing in front of their home crowd, and they’ve had the Cowboys number over the last few seasons.

But this game wasn’t just another battle with a tough NFC opponent. The 49ers came in banged up missing several key players. The Cowboys are hurting too, but most of their injuries are on the defensive side of the ball. There is no reason for the Cowboys offense to have issues unless they are just not very good. And considering the team is coming off a bye where adjustments were supposed to be made, it brings about a different level of disappointment to see them struggle so badly.

Whenever the Cowboys are outmatched, they don’t just get beat, they get taken out of the game. In all four losses this season, the Cowboys have trailed by at least 17 points at some point in the game. Sure, sometimes they string together some fourth-quarter garbage points to dress up the final score, but at times this year, this team hasn’t shown up to play.

Is it really that bad or are we making too much of it? Were they in this game and just fell victim to a couple of tough breaks? Let’s check the damage and see what we can conclude after further review.

Running abated

This team can’t run the football. It doesn’t matter who is carrying the football, the result is the same. Many of us are critics of the front office’s choice of ball carriers as the current group doesn’t offer much excitement, but the running game’s inadequacies don’t fall solely on the shoulders of the running backs. The blockers are part of the problem as well.

In this game, the Cowboys backs were taken down several times in the backfield or right near the line of scrimmage because of faulty blocking. Blockers either failed to pick up defenders or did a poor job obstructing them because the 49ers’ defense feasted on the Cowboys’ running backs all night. Even though we’ve grown used to it, it’s still tough to watch.

Under pressure

With no running game to work with, once again everything fell on Dak Prescott and the passing game. And once again, he wasn’t up to the task. Prescott is in a bit of a funk as he has thrown multiple interceptions in three straight games. Against the 49ers, Dak felt the pass rush early and never looked comfortable. Pressure will disrupt any quarterback, it was particularly unnerving for Dak in this game. When he sensed trouble, the ball went flailing.

Quick passes = small gains

The offense has been effective using a lot of quick stuff to help offset the pass rush and allow their receivers to get some yards after the catch. Between CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson, this has been a useful tool for the offense as those guys find ways to salvage some extra yards.

But those extra yards weren’t available against the 49ers’ defense as they swarmed to the ball and did a great job tackling in the open field. In most cases, the Cowboys’ receivers were stopped in their tracks.

Some things are hard to explain

The offense can look really bad sometimes and it can feel like they haven’t played together very long. We know that’s not the case, but it doesn’t stop them from putting some sloppy plays on tape.

Missed opportunities

There were certainly opportunities in the passing game as some of the good passes Prescott threw were very well-placed giving the receiver a chance to make a play. And while the difficulty level for the catch might’ve been a little harder than normal, the ball was right there for the taking. Again, the 49ers were right there with good coverage and deserve credit, but good teams make good plays and the Cowboys aren’t doing that.

A few bright spots

A lot of the good stuff happened in the fourth quarter when the 49ers had a good-sized lead, but credit the offense for at least making things interesting down the stretch. The offense had some nice play designs that crossed up the 49ers defense and Prescott delivered some good throws to keep them in the game.