Don’t be fooled by Cowboys hollow comeback attempt against the 49ers

TheDallas Cowboysweren’t expected to win in Sunday night’s showdown with theSan Francisco 49ers. Few were surprised when they found themselves down 27-10 by the end of the third quarter. While Dallas nearly pulled off a comeback in the fourth, the rest of the game is far more indicative of where this team is and what lies ahead for a struggling, ill-equipped team.

The night’s biggest surprise was that the Cowboys took a 10-6 lead into halftime. The Niners had shot themselves in the foot more than once in the first half, thanks largely to some drive-killing drops by Deebo Samuel. It wasn’t that Dallas’ defense had made some bold statement; just San Francisco struggling with execution and still trying to find consistency without RB Christian McCaffrey or WR Brandon Aiyuk in the lineup.

The rhythm returned in a 21-0 run that seemed to put the game away. That felt like the 49ers-Cowboys matchups of recent years, with their offense exerting its will and Dallas having no cohesion when they got the ball. Beyond just this matchup, it felt like how the Cowboys have been manhandled in their other losses to the Lions, Ravens, and Saints, plus the 2023 playoff elimination by thePackers.

Nobody, including the 49ers, saw that fourth-quarter comeback coming. And that’s really why it happened; San Francisco was already in prevent mode and clearly stopped taking the Cowboys seriously. The proven All-Pro connection between QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb took advantage of the complacency, and suddenly the 49ers looked like Apollo Creed in the first round of his first fight with Rocky.

But don’t be fooled by what Dallas nearly accomplished, because most opponents aren’t going to make that same mistake. Beating up the Cowboys is old hat for the 49ers and they have every reason to not respect us. It only took them one quarter of competent football to turn the game into another laugher. When they got up 27-10, they just got sleepy and bored.

The issues that have plagued the Cowboys all season were still there on the final drive. Mike McCarthy’s unimaginative offensive scheme left bad options for Prescott, who threw four straight incompletions to kill the comeback. While he did throw a dime to KaVontae Turpin on one attempt, putting the game on Turpin’s suspect hands was hardly the