Dallas City News

The Dallas Cowboys face off against the San Francisco 49ers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The 49ers have bested the Cowboys in three straight contests, including two in the playoffs in recent years. The last time the Cowboys beat the 49ers, Andy Dalton was the Cowboys quarterback back in 2020. Dallas will try to snap that losing streak with a huge road win against last year’s NFC champions. Here are five things to watch when the Cowboys travel to Santa Clara on Sunday.

1. Chasing Mason

Mike Zimmer’s run defense catches a break as the 49ers continue to play without their star running back Christian McCaffrey who is getting closer to making his season debut. Even without CMC, stopping the run will still be difficult as they’ll try to stop third-year back Jordan Mason. The undrafted free agent started red hot as the team’s starting running back, racking up at least 100 yards in three of his first four games. He’s cooled off lately, but could still be a problem for a team like the Cowboys.

The Cowboys’ defense has been bad at bringing ball carriers down this year missing tackles at a rate of 15.8%, the highest in the NFL according to NextGenStats. And it happens that Mason leads all players this season with 53 missed tackles. Those two stats don’t bode well for a Cowboys’ defense that has struggled against the run.

2. Another tough test for the edge protectors

The schedule hasn’t been kind on the Cowboys’ offensive line as they have battled some of the best pass rushers in the NFL in the early part of the year. They opened against last year’s Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, and their last two games have come against T.J. Watt and Aidan Hutchinson. Lions’ edge rusher Hutchinson led the league in sacks before his injury. The Cowboys have also faced Dexter Lawrence II who leads the NFL with nine sacks. That’s quite the gauntlet.

Now, they’ll draw Nick Bosa who has had double-digit sacks in each of the last three seasons, including 18.5 sacks in 2022 when he won DPOY. Tackles Terence Steele and Tyler Guyton will get a little reprieve after this week as the edge talent dips a bit, but they’ll have to get through Bosa first.

3. Seeing red in the red zone

The Cowboys’ offense was fantastic after their bye week a year ago, and we hope a similar transformation occurs this year. For that to happen, the Cowboys must find a way to finish drives. Only the Tua-less Miami Dolphins have a worse red zone scoring percentage than the Cowboys this season. That’s not good.

Part of the reason for the Cowboys’ ineptness in the red zone is Dak Prescott. Oddly, he’s struggled to connect with his targets when the field shrinks. Prescott has only completed 39.1% of his passes in the red zone this year according to NextGenStats. That is the fourth-worst in the league this season. For the Cowboys to win, they will need to capitalize on their long drives and that means Dak putting a stamp on it.

4. Gonna be your man in motion

The 49ers receivers are hurting. Literally. The team lost Brandon Aiyuk last week to a season-ending knee injury. Deebo Samuel is recovering from pneumonia and returned to practice on a limited basis. And Jauan Jennings hasn’t practiced as he’s dealing with a hip injury. Their healthiest receiver is rookie Ricky Pearsall and he was shot a couple of months ago.

Kyle Shanahan will try to substitute talent with creativity, which means expect a lot of funny business on Sunday night. According to NextGenStats, the 49ers have used motion at the third-highest rate in the NFL this season gaining 6.3 yards per play (also third-most). Since joining the 49ers, Shanahan’s offense has always been on the move, and expect him to challenge the Cowboys’ defensive discipline on Sunday.

5. Out of pocket

The Cowboys and 49ers were both in the top three in points scored last season, but this game won’t resemble anything close to a couple of offensive juggernauts. The 49ers offense is injured and the Cowboys offense is dazed and confused. It shouldn’t take a lot of points to emerge victorious in this one.

Which offense prevails could depend on what each quarterback does while extending plays. Brock Purdy has been great when the line has held up and he takes his time finding open receivers. He’ll test the limits on how long he can hold the ball before it’s a problem. No secondary can fend on receivers forever, so if Purdy has all day, they should be able to move the ball.

For Dallas, they need a smart Dak. He can’t have tunnel vision and lock in on targets. He must go through his progressions, allow routes to develop, and have the patience to stand in the pocket and make throws. And if that means rolling around and buying time, so be it. Which quarterback delivers out of the pocket could go a long way in determining which team has success.

What will you be watching on Sunday night?