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Cowboys toughest obstacles in the NFC: San Francisco 49ers preview

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Cowboys toughest obstacles in the NFC: San Francisco 49ers preview


The Dallas Cowboys are projected to be one of the better teams in the NFC this season. Many of the other top teams in the conference are playoff teams from a year ago and are expected to be right in the thick of things again this year. To get a feel for what kind of challenges the Cowboys might face this season, we’ll run through their toughest competitors, starting with the reigning NFC champs.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Head Coach: Kyle Shanahan, seven seasons, 64-51 (.557)

The San Francisco 49ers are the team to beat in the NFC. They have advanced to the NFC Championship game in four of the last five years, twice moving on to the Super Bowl. They have stars on both sides of the ball with studs like Christian McCaffrey, Nick Bosa, Deebo Samuel, and Fred Warner. They also benefit from the emergence of seventh-round pick Brock Purdy who is only halfway through his super-cheap rookie deal. The Niners are poised to make some noise once again in 2024.

2023 Statistics

Record: 12-5, 1st in the NFC West, the top seed in the NFC playoffs

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Offense rank: Points (3rd), Yards (2nd), passing efficiency (1st), and rushing efficiency (4th)

Defense rank: Points (3rd), Yards (8th), passing efficiency (5th), and rushing efficiency (14th)

2023 Leaders

Passing: Brock Purdy = 69.4 % completion, 4,280 yards, 31 TDs, 11 INTs

Rushing: Christian McCaffrey = 1,459 yards (5.4 ypc), 564 yards receiving, 21 total TDs

Receiving: Brandon Aiyuk = 75 catches for 1,342 yards and 7 TDs

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Sacks: Nick Bosa = 10.5

Tackles: Fred Warner = 132

Interceptions: Charvarius Ward = 5

Best offensive weapon

The 49ers re-upped on their most talented offensive weapon adding two more years to McCaffrey’s contract, keeping him in San Francisco through the 2027 season. This move welcomes criticism from the “running backs don’t matter” coalition, but McCaffrey might be an anomaly. After never missing a game his first three years, he struggled to stay healthy, missing 22 games over the next two seasons. But since being traded to the 49ers, his career has been revitalized. Shanahan has been a run-producing genius since joining the team and now has the league’s most explosive runner.

Best defensive weapon

Before the 49ers were this NFC force, they were cellar-dwellers in the NFC, going five straight seasons without a winning record. This level of suckitude rewarded them with a top-10 pick in four consecutive drafts. Their top draft selection was the no. 2 overall pick, Nick Bosa, in 2019. The Ohio State edge rusher has been a force since entering the league and finished with 18.5 sacks in 2022 when he won Defensive Player of the Year (beating second-place finisher Micah Parsons). Bosa is the highest-paid player on the 49ers as he is in year two of a five-year, $170 million deal.

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Notable losses

The 49ers came out of the offseason unscathed as they didn’t lose any huge contributors. Their biggest losses were suffered along the defensive line as some former blue-chippers are now gone. Former fourth-overall pick Clelin Ferrell had a solid year for them last year, starting all 17 games. He now joins Dan Quinn in Washington. Arik Armstead has been a mainstay at DT for them over the last several years but signed with Jacksonville. The 49ers traded for Chase Young (second-overall pick in 2020) and Randy Gregory last year, but both signed elsewhere this offseason.

Notable additions

Just because the 49ers defensive line was picked through in free agency doesn’t mean it’s now a weakness. The team was aggressive in finding some quality replacements. They signed veteran edge rusher Leonard Floyd (ninth overall in 2016) to a two-year, $20 million deal. Floyd hasn’t missed a game in six years and has recorded at least nine sacks in each of his last four seasons. They also added a run-stopping defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos to a two-year, $18 million deal. And to help strengthen the middle, they added a defensive tackle Cowboys fans might remember as they traded a seventh-round pick to the Houston Texans for Maliek Collins. He is coming off one of his better years in the league with a career-high in tackles (41) and sacks (5) last year.

Top draft pick

The 49ers picked at the end of the first round but took advantage of the rich wide-receiving class by selecting Ricky Pearsall. This could be a preemptive strike to replace Aiyuk whose future in San Francisco is uncertain as he looks for a new deal.

2024 game against Dallas: Week 8, Sunday Night Football

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San Francisco, CA

Morning Report: McKivitz Highlights Special Connection to SF 🗞️

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Morning Report: McKivitz Highlights Special Connection to SF 🗞️


McKivitz Sends Clear Message on 49ers Future: ‘I Want to Be on That 10-Year Wall’

As Colton McKivitz enters his seventh season with the 49ers, he has his sights set on a milestone that represents trust and commitment to the organization: reaching the organization’s 10-year wall and joining a list of names that includes legends Joe Montana and Bryant Young.

George Kittle Catches FIFA World Cup Action | Off the Field

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway, and tight end George Kittle is showing his support for Team USA. Following the 4-1 USA win over Paraguay, Kittle shared his excitement on social media tweeting “4 is good right?”

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5 Things to Know: Offensive Lineman Enrique Cruz Jr.

The Chicago native adds size, athleticism, and versatility to the 49ers competitive offensive line room. Here are five things to know about Enrique Cruz Jr.



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Artwork quilt unveiled at San Francisco dirt alley that was mistakenly bought at auction

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Artwork quilt unveiled at San Francisco dirt alley that was mistakenly bought at auction


In the fall of 2025, CBS News Bay Area first brought you the story of a Sunset couple that had the winning bid for a piece of property next to their home. They thought they were getting the duplex next door. Instead, they got a small patch of land known as Dirt Alley.

This story has many chapters, but it ended with a community celebration.

The final chapter in the story of Dirt Alley was written Wednesday night as they unveiled the tiles of artwork on the pavement.

“I’m very happy today,” JJ Hollingsworth said. “It’s just amazing that these artists that I’ve been working with and sold the alley to have come through with this incredible art.”

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JJ Hollingsworth was the original property owner. She took out $25,000 from her retirement to pay for this parcel in a city auction. She thought she got a bargain for the duplex next door. When she found out it was actually the alley, the stress led to health problems and a lot of anxiety.

“I’m trying to forget, but I caused all this,” she said. “That’s what happened. I caused all this.”

Then came an email that would help her get out of the Dirt Alley nightmare. A group of friends from San Francisco was interested in buying this 82-foot-long alley.

“I know she was really stressed out when she first bought this and kind of didn’t know what she was going to do with it,” Theo Bleier said. “It’s really lucky. We were going to buy a different parcel, and we lost the auction. It was more than we wanted to spend. We felt really lucky the coincidence worked out, and we were able to help out JJ.”

The new owners then had the idea of laying an artwork quilt on the pavement and took submissions online.

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“I think we had about one million people visit the website at least,” owner Patrick Hultquist said. “1.2 million, I think is the number of people that visited the website.”

The tiles with the most votes made it onto what is now called Notion way.

“Now, it’s not an official name of the street. It’s an unofficial name, but we did get an official-looking sign,” he said.

JJ Hollingsworth, who is a music composer, wrote a ballad called Notion Way for the special occasion. What started as a horrible mistake ended up bringing the community together.

“It’s really beautiful,” neighbors Tom Goslinga & Nesha Niezrecki said. “It’s how culture gets created in a lot of ways. People kind of being creative with an interesting situation. It’s really cool.”

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While Hollingsworth is grateful for how this story ended, she says she learned a valuable lesson from this whole experience.

“Read the fine print and ask a lot of questions,” she said. 

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Driver of bullet-riddled car flees North Bay deputies over Golden Gate Bridge

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Driver of bullet-riddled car flees North Bay deputies over Golden Gate Bridge


SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A driver in a car riddled with bullets fled a Marin County Sheriff’s Office deputy at high speeds over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco early Tuesday morning, according to authorities. The suspect, identified as Martin Zuniga Jr., 26, was later located in Novato and arrested.

The deputy first observed the suspect driving at approximately 100 mph on Highway 101 near the Richardson Bay Bridge. After pulling over the car, the deputy “noticed approximately 14 fresh bullet holes in the vehicle,” the sheriff’s office wrote. Zuniga allegedly told the deputy that he had just been involved in a road rage incident near Novato, but he refused to get out of the car and give a statement.

(Photo: Marin County Sheriff’s Office)

Zuniga “abruptly put the car into drive and fled the scene,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

The pursuit led to the Golden Gate Bridge, where the deputy disengaged due to unsafe speeds across the span, according to authorities. The car was later found abandoned on the streets of San Francisco.

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At approximately 6 p.m., detectives located Zuniga in downtown Novato and placed him into custody. The sheriff’s office said at the time of the arrest that he was in possession of a loaded .40-caliber pistol with a high-capacity magazine and suspected cocaine.

Zuniga was booked into the Marin County Jail for:

  • Reckless evading
  • Violently resisting law enforcement
  • Felon in possession of a firearm
  • Felon in possession of ammunition
  • Addict in possession of a firearm

Anyone with information regarding a shooting or road rage incident in the evening or early morning hours of June 15 and June 16 is asked to contact the Marin County Sheriff’s Office at 415-479-2311.



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