San Francisco 49ers up big on Dallas Cowboys after huge third quarter

Things look grim for the Dallas Cowboys after three quarters.

3rd Quarter

Whatever Kyle Shanahan did over intermission clearly worked.

It took 5 plays for the 49ers to travel 60 yards (thanks to a poor kickoff from Brandon Aubrey) for an opening touchdown to start the second half. A big chunk of it came on this George Kittle play where Donovan Wilson was playing catch up.

The rain had seemingly begun for the Cowboys as they took over trailing for the first time in the game.

After an illegal forward pass on an attempted pitch on the kick return, the fourth penalty against the Cowboys’ kickoff team on the night (two illegal formations and the Aubrey mishit mentioned above), Dallas started with the ball deep on their side of the field.

On third down Dak Prescott tried to force one to CeeDee Lamb and had his eyes read the whole way for a 49ers interception.

Obviously this set San Francisco up rather nicely and given that they had just taken the lead that made things all the more stressful. They got down near the goal line and this time around George Kittle got all the way into the endzone.

I am sad to report that the Cowboys did the second-worst possible thing on the next drive. Obviously the worst would have been turning the ball over. They were courteous enough to not do that, but they did go three and out.

The 49ers turned that into another touchdown to make the fourth quarter a bit of a formality.

2nd Quarter

The Cowboys did indeed begin in somewhat promising field position and you know what, they capitalized on it!

In what was by far their most complete offensive drive in some time the Cowboys saw Dak Prescott find CeeDee Lamb for a great gain, Ezekiel Elliott pick up his longest rush of the season (11 yards), Jake Ferguson grind out some tough YAC yards for a first on third down, Luke Schoonmaker draw an important flag… and Elliott capped it all off for the touchdown.

It marked the third rushing touchdown of the season for the Cowboys (Elliott’s second) and was a sight for sore eyes to say the least.

The 49ers took over trailing which is obviously not a spot they are accustomed to with the Cowboys on the other side. After crossing midfield they ran into a third down that DeMarvion Overshown put a halt to and decided to go for it on fourth.

Deebo Samuel dropped an easy pass and the Cowboys took over on downs.

Signs of life continued to show up for the Cowboys offense as they moved the ball down the field once more. Unfortunately they were not able to find the endzone this time, but civic duty standout Brandon Aubrey did convert on a field goal attempt to make the lead 10-3.

The Niners made quick work of things once they got the ball and it was looking like a touchdown was inevitable until penalties and drops reared their ugly head. To be clear this was happening to the 49ers!

San Francisco’s drive stalled and they had to settle for another field goal which set the Cowboys up for the closing possession of the half, a critical one what with how they chose to take the ball after winning the opening coin toss. They had 90 seconds and 2 timeouts to work with.

Unfortunately the Cowboys went three and out and even stopped the clock twice themselves with incompletions. This set the 49ers up for some final points of their own before halftime.

Thankfully the 49ers were unable to do anything and punted before the Cowboys officially ended the half with a knee.

1st Quarter

The Dallas Cowboys won the toss and once again Mike McCarthy chose to take the ball first. It has become quite clear that he feels his team needs to play with a lead and he has tried to get one as best as he could.

Unfortunately that effort fell short. Dallas picked up 16 yards across 5 plays before punting and strangely handed it off to Hunter Luepke of all people on 3rd and 5 before doing so. Dalvin Cook did not see any work on that drive.

The 49ers moved the ball in somewhat vintage fashion in terms of what we know from this team. But they did not cash all the way in. San Francisco saw Anders Carlson boot a 50-yard field goal for the game’s first points which extended Dallas’ streak, as the mothership’s Nick Eatman noted, of allowing every team they have faced this season to score on their opening possession.

On their next possession the Cowboys began to find some slight success and even saw Dalvin Cook get involved. After picking up two first downs the team was working on another when Dak Prescott made a horrible decision. He threw into double coverage with pressure in his face and you can guess what happened.

In the past mistakes from the Cowboys have been what San Francisco feasted on throughout their victories. For what it is worth, this one did not draw any blood. The Niners punted it back to the Cowboys.

The first quarter ended with Dallas at midfield and somewhat moving.

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Notable Recent News

It was reported on Saturday afternoon that the Cowboys would be elevating running back Dalvin Cook for this game which makes for his official debut with the team.

On top of that, about an hour before inactives came out it was announced by the team that running back Rico Dowdle became ill upon arriving to the stadium and that his status for the contest was changed to questionable.

Injury Updates

Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland were both officially ruled out for this game on Friday.

NFL News Relevant To The Cowboys

With no byes across the league this is a week that will lead to plenty of important results that we will monitor in the aftermath of it all.

Up Next For The Cowboys

Sunday night is the first of two straight road games for the Cowboys coming out of the bye.

Next week will see them travel to face the Atlanta Falcons in a 1 PM ET kickoff, their first since Week 2 when they hosted the New Orleans Saints.