Sports Then and Now

A game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers is usually mammoth with both teams battling for supremacy in the National Football Confence if not the entire NFL. This storied rivalry has stood the test of time and is etched in football lore. There have been iconic games with signature moments like, “The Catch” in the 1981 NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park. Joe Montana’s game-winning touchdown pass to Dwight Clark inside of the final minute gave the 49ers a 28-27 win and launched them as the team of the 1980’s. How about Troy Aikman’s clutch slant pass to Alvin Harper with a little more than four minutes left to play in the 1992 NFC Championship Game at Candlestick Park. Harper turned it into a 71-yard catch-and-run which silenced the home crowd and took back the momentum after San Francisco had seized it with a touchdown to pull within 24-20. Dallas turned Harper’s big play into a touchdown to seal a 30-20 victory that sent them onto win their first of back-to-back Super Bowls in the 1990’s. Then there was a frantic end of game fury in the 2001 NFC Wild Card game where Dak Prescott and the offense had to hurry down the field to try and get one last play off only to have the clock expire in a 49ers 23-17 victory. The two franchises have played several big regular season games as well but these postseason theatrics over decades has made this rivalry what it has been and still is today.

The two franchises have met in six NFC Championship games with the Cowboys winning four of them. Each winner from those matchups went on to win that season’s Super Bowl except for the 1970 Dallas team which lost to Baltimore 16-13 in Super Bowl V. They have met nine times in the playoffs overall with the Cowboys holding a 5-4 edge. The all time series is nearly a draw with San Francisco holding a narrow 20-19-1 advantage.

Names like Dick Nolan, John Brodie, Gene Washington, Bruce Taylor, and Rosevelt Taylor were key to the 49ers in the 1970’s. The franchises met three straight years in the playoffs in the 1970’s including a pair of NFC Championship games, both won by Dallas. Names like Roger Staubach, Duane Thomas, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Tony Hill, Bob Lilly, Jethro Pugh, Lee Roy Jordan, Cliff Harris, Charlie Waters, Randy White, Harvey Martin, and Ed “Too Tall” Jones were the core of the Cowboys in the 1970’s when they became known as “America’s Team”. As the 1980’s came along, Joe Montana, Roger Craig, Dwight Clark, Jerry Rice, John Taylor, Tom Rathman, Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright, Dwaine Board, Jack Reynolds, Randy Cross, and Keith Fahnhorst were mainstays for San Francisco which won four Super Bowls in the 1980’s.

As the 1990’s started, a young cast of players emerged for Dallas led by Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith who were collectively known as “The Triplets.” Complemeting them were speedy and talented players like Darren Woodson, Mark Stepnoski, Jay Novacek, Kelvin Martin, Eric Williams, Kevin Smith, Charles Haley, Thomas Everrett, Ken Norton Jr., Russell Maryland, Larry Brown, Dixon Edwards, Darrin Smith, Robert Jones, Tony Tolbert, and Daryl “Moose” Johnston. The 49ers carried much of their success of the 80’s into the 90’s as players like Montana, Rice, Lott, Wright, and Cross remained to go along with Steve Young, Ricky Watters, Lee Woodall, and Bryant Young.

While the two franchises went through a dry spell of no playoff encounters between the 1995 and 2020 seasons, they have met in two of the last three postseasons. San Francisco won in the NFC Wild Card game in 2021 and again in the NFC Divisional playoffs in 2022. The 49ers have won the last three meetings overall including a dominant 42-10 victory on Sunday Night Football a year ago on Oct. 8. The Cowboys last beat San Francisco 41-33 at home on Dec. 20, 2020.

Yet for all this history, the two current teams find themselves searching for who they really are as they get ready to play in primtime on NBC’s Sunday Night Football this Sunday, Oct. 27. They will enter Sunday night’s tilt with a 6-7 combined record with Dallas 3-3 and the 49ers 3-4, not exactly playoff worthy at this point in the season. Both teams are coming off losses at home and are trying to regain their footing. There is no Brodie, Montana, Young, Clark, Rice, or Lott to be seen in San Francisco. Likewise, there is no Staubach, Pearson, Dorsett, Lilly, White, Aikman, Irvin, Smith, or Haley suiting up for the Cowboys. There is no Dick Nolan, Bill Walsh, Tom Landry, or Jimmy Johnson strolling the sidelines as the head coach.

Instead we have Kyle Shanahan leading the 49ers and Mike McCarthy the head man in Dallas. The two are no strangers to success as McCarthy won a Super Bowl in Green Bay and Shanahan has reached two, both losses to Kansas City. More importantly, Shanahan, along with general manager John Lynch, has stabilized San Francisco’s franchise. Since being hired in 2017, Shanahan has coached the 49ers to four NFC Championship games including each of the last three.

As for the players, Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott has publicly admitted he needs to play better. His passer rating currently stands at 85.4, about 20 percentage points down from a year ago when he was a candidate for the NFL’s most valuable player. Through six games, Prescott has thrown only eight touchdowns while tossing six interceptions. He threw only nine picks all of last season and with Dallas struggling to show any running game, that does not bode well for the offense. With a below average running game, defenses are scheming up against the Cowboys to shut down their passing attack. Third and longs have resulted and Dallas is not sustaining drives as blitzes have shut them down. The teams lone threat, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, is a shell of himself after a breakoout season a year ago in which he surpassed Irvin’s single season franchise records for catches and receiving yards.

Lamb’s contract holdout caused him to miss training camp and Prescott’s contract negotiations lingered on for too long. Those two offseason issues disrupted the chemistry between Prescott and Lamb and the results are evident with their timing being off leading to errant passes and turnovers. Rico Dowdle is the team’s best option at running back but he does not impact games very much. Dowdle has totaled only 59 carries for 246 yards thus far to lead the Cowboys. Dallas will need to be more productive running the ball if they are to stack together some wins this season and reach the playoffs. Prescott needs better support around him and the Cowboys can’t expect to win with him throwing the ball 50 or more times a game. Tight end Jake Ferguson needs to find his groove. After a solid year last year, Ferguson has yet to score a touchdown this year and has only 25 catches for 240 yards through six games.

As inconsistent as their offense is, the bigger problems for Dallas lie on defense where they have been raveged by injuries. Star pass rushers DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons both went down in the win at the Giants on Sept. 26 and have not played since. Lawrence is on injured reserve with a Lis Frank injury to his foot and likely won’t return until mid November. Pasons suffered an ankle injury in the loss at the Giants. Cornerback Daron Bland has been out all season with a stress fracture and pass rusher Sam Williams was lost for the season with a torn ACL he suffered in the preseason. Promising rookies Marshawn Kneeland at defensive end and Caelon Carson at cornerback have also missed the last couple games with injuries. Kneeland might return in November after he recovers from meniscus surgery and Carson missed the last game with a shoulder injury. Linebacker Eric Kendricks missed the Cowboys 47-9 home loss to the Lions on Oct. 13 with a shoulder injury and is questionable along with Carson to play Sunday night according to the teams latest injury reports. The latest injury report also has both Parsons and Bland out along with defensive tackle Jordan Phillips with a wrist injury. Furthermore, Dallas has been hurt by turnovers this season as they have a minus six turnover ratio.

San Francisco is also dealing with injuries to some of its stars. They wll be without running back Christain McCaffrey who is recovering from tendonitis in his achilles as well as wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk who was lost for the season after he suffered tears to his ACL and MCL in his knee in last Sunday’s home loss to the Chiefs. All purpose threat Deebo Samuel, tight end George Kittle, and defensive back Deommodore Lenoir are also all questionable to play on Sunday due to illnesses or injury according to the team’s latest injury report. Also out for the 49ers is linebacker Dre Greenlaw who has not seen the field this season after suffering a torn achilles tendon in the Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs back in February. Wide receiver Jauan Jennings will also miss his second straight game with a hip injury according to the teams practice report which further hurts San Francisco’s passing game.

Jordan Mason has done a better than average job in place of the injured McCaffrey. Mason has rushed for 667 yards and three touchdowns this season and has an impressive 5.2 yards per carry. Although he suffered an AC joint sprain in week six against Seattle, he is expected to play against the Cowboys on Sunday.

Since many star players from both sides will be missing from this game, some of the glamour and sizzle is missing as well. It is still an important game and one that both franchises and fan bases get up for. This time around though, the two teams will be battling for survival in the race for the NFC playoffs. While the loser will not be out of the race, they will be far more challenged to get there.

Prescott is 2-3 in his career against the 49ers with both wins coming in San Francisco. While he has lost his last three starts against the 49ers – two in the playoffs – he will be out to proove he can lead Dallas to victory when their backs are against the wall. This game could still have an impact on the NFC playoff picture for both teams, especially with seeding. That is always important because seeding determines where, when, and in what round in the playoffs that teams would meet.

Getting off to a good start will be vital for the Cowboys. Although they managed to rally against a very good Baltimore defense in an eventual 28-25 home loss in week three this season, Dallas has struggled when they have fallen behind this year. Despite not having a feature back, the Cowboys will need to establish some rushing offense to soften up an aggressive San Francisco defense featuring all pros in Nick Bosa and Fred Warner in the front seven. Dowdle is the main runner for Dallas followed by ninth-year veteran Ezekiel Elliott who is on his second tour of duty for the Cowboys after being signed to a one-year deal in the offseason. Elliott’s best days are behind him but his value still lies in blitz protection, short yardage, and goal line situations. Dallas can still benefit from all that and they will take anything positive they can get from Elliott. Additional running plays will need to be added through McCarthy calling pitch plays, reverses, and jet sweeps by using punt and kick returning ace Kavontae Turpin. Look for Turpin to play a big role in this game both as a receiver and runner. When it is time to throw, Prescott will have to do a better job of spreading the ball around to others besides Lamb. Ferguson, Turpin, and Jalen Tolbert have got to make some plays in this game along with second-year tight end Luke Schoonmaker. Fullback Hunter Luepke can be a viable option out of the backfield as well.

On defense, the Cowboys will need their backups and young players to step up and not allow San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy to find his rhythm. Starting defensive tackles Osa Odighizuwa and Mazi Smith will have to plug the middle and get some pressure on Purdy along with reserve defensive lineman Chauncey Golston, Carl Lawson, and Linval Joseph.

Dallas is 3-0 on the road so far this season which bodes well for this game. The 49ers have not been on top of their game at home this season where two of their four losses have come. If the Cowboys can stop the run and prevent Purdy from connecting on big plays, Dallas could very well win this game. With many star players missing from this game it could come down to more basic and ordinary tasks like blitz pickup, assignment football, and tackling technique. In the end, a secondary player or backup could emerge as a difference maker by making a critical play at a critical time in this game to determine the winner. Should the game turn out like that, it would be just what this longstanding rivalry called for even with each team having a subpar season so far.