10 thoughts on the Cowboys embarrassing loss

The Dallas Cowboys went into Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara and showed the entire world that they are just not up to snuff when it comes to hanging with the big boys. The San Francisco 49ers sent a message to the league that they are the poo and they used the Cowboys as their delivery pigeon. As excited as fans were coming into the game, they were left completely deflated as things just kept getting worse with every minute. Grab yourself a tissue and check out 10 thoughts on the Cowboys 42-10 loss to the 49ers.

1. Total Destruction

What was billed as a great matchup between two of the Goliaths of the NFL turned into total domination right from the onset. The 49ers were ready for this one, while the Cowboys looked like they didn’t belong in the tier of top teams in this league. San Francisco’s play-calling was creative, they were more physical, and they played like a championship football team. The Cowboys didn’t do any of those things.

2. Purdy darn good

Brock Purdy has been the talk of the season and for good reason. After being the very last selection of the 2022 NFL Draft, he’s got himself a nice story going on. Naysayers keep waiting for him to come back down to earth, but there doesn’t appear to be any sign of that happening soon. Purdy was fantastic on Sunday night finishing 17/24 for 252 yards and four touchdowns. The guy was calm, decisive, and right on the money with his throws. The 49ers have themselves a good one with him.

3. Dak, not so good

Dak Prescott is one of the most scrutinized players week in and week out. This season, he’s been playing well, but the Cowboys have executed such a conservative game plan that it’s hard to know what we’re really seeing. With three of their wins being blowouts, Prescott hasn’t had to be great. On Sunday, they needed a better version of their quarterback. Prescott finished the game 14/24 for 153 yards including one touchdown and three picks. Prescott was throwing into coverage, failing to see defenders, and in some cases just launching the ball up for grabs. The 49ers had the better quarterback on this day and it wasn’t even close.

4. No offense early

The Cowboys fell into a hole in this one thanks to not being able to stop the 49ers, but the offense was nowhere to be found early on. The offense went three-and-out on their first two possessions. Then, on their first good play of the game, Tony Pollard got loose around the edge only to fumble the ball over to San Francisco. They followed that possession up with another three-and-out. Four possessions, nada. That is not going to bode well when you’re trying to hang with the 49ers. Before they could even get started, the Cowboys were down 14-0.

5. Extra chances

It was hard to get the 49ers offense off the field. That’s why it became extremely frustrating to come up with some third-down wins, only to have them not count due to stupid penalties. Jayron Kearse forgot how to play football for a second and lined up in the neutral zone negating a third-down stop. Donovan Wilson had a personal foul penalty (the refs called in incorrectly on Kearse) when he hit Christian McCaffrey on what would’ve been a third-down stop (Kearse was also called for taunting). The defense couldn’t make stops, physically or mentally.

6. A little hope

It wasn’t very long, but there was a moment when the Cowboys looked like they were going to get right back in it. Midway through the second quarter, the Cowboys put together an 11-play, 78-yard drive capped off by a great throw by Prescott and an even better catch by KaVontae Turpin to cut the lead to just seven. Sadly, that’s as close as the Cowboys would get.

7. Kittle cross-up

The 49ers have a lot of offensive weapons, but their tight end was the star in this one. George Kittle only caught three passes, but every single one of them went for a touchdown. The 49ers did a great job moving him around, decoying him as a blocker, and then crossing up the Cowboys’ defensive backs to where he had just enough space to blow by them. It was just too hard for this defense to keep track of everyone and Kittle was the benefactor.

8. Turpin goes down

It’s nice to see the team get Turpin more involved in the offense. He had a rushing touchdown in the season opener against the Giants. He had a 46-yard run on a jet sweep last week against the Patriots. And he scored the team’s only touchdown on Sunday night. Turpin wouldn’t finish this one as he injured his ankle on a kick return late in the first half. It’s unclear the extent of his injury. Without Turpin around, the Cowboys will need to figure out who their returner will be as both Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn didn’t look very comfortable.

9. Injury to insult

Not only did the Cowboys get beat up on the scoreboard, but this game also took a toll on them physically. Besides Turpin going down, the Cowboys also suffered injuries to other key players. Leighton Vander Esch injured his neck when he collided with Micah Parsons. Both Donovan Wilson and Jourdan Lewis suffered ankle injuries. The Cowboys came out of this one with a lot of casualties.

10. What’s next?

This game was rough. Not only did they get embarrassed in a primetime game, but it now has us wondering just how good this team really is. It wasn’t just a thing here or there, it was getting outplayed in all facets. The 49ers, the Eagles, and even the Lions are playing better football right now. This team has a tough schedule with many difficult games on the docket and if they expect this year to be any different than the letdowns we’ve been through before, they have a lot of things to clean up.