Game Breakdown: 49ers Make Statement in 42-10 Rout of Dallas

Championship teams reach a point where the competition isn’t the opponent but themselves, the challenge is to play to their standard.

The league’s best team proved it Sunday night in a 42-10 TKO of the Dallas Cowboys. The game wasn’t as close as the score suggests.

Championship teams reach a point where the competition isn’t the opponent but themselves, the challenge is to play to their standard. That wasn’t expected of the 2023 San Francisco 49ers but on execution this year they stand alone atop the NFL.

Game Balls

Fred Warner – The perfectly timed and placed punch out causing Tony Pollard’s early fumble. Covering a crossing route to deny the first option, then closing on Dak Prescott and sacking him, the sequence that in essence ended the game in the 2nd quarter. Then catching a tipped pass carom off Deommodore Lenoir for an interception. We are watching a Hall of Famer at his peak.

Brock Purdy – Two plays proved how Purdy has grown and matured since last year. DeMarcus Lawrence is closing for a sack, Purdy steps up and rolls right. Purdy buys time, George Kittle has separation in the corner of the end zone and Purdy nails him from 19 yards out. Last year, that pressure caused a sack or a throwaway as Purdy bailed out left. This year it’s step up and roll right for a red zone touchdown.

Purdy hits Brandon Aiyuk on a great throw for a 40-yard gain. Wiped out by a bad holding call on Spencer Burford (should have been hands to the face instead). All the emotion of the play wiped out. Next play on 3rd and 13 Purdy hits Deebo Samuel for an 18-yard gain and then the Niners score three plays later. Mental toughness, confidence, and poise for maturity beyond his years.

In 1980 the Niners had a young unproven quarterback who late in the season started against New Orleans. The Saints built a 35-7 lead at halftime. The Niners won 38-35 in overtime, and that is when the team and the Faithful started to believe in Joe Montana.

The following year, the Niners were 4-2 and faced Dallas, who beat the Niners (and Steve DeBerg) 59-14 the prior year. The Niners won the 1981 game 45-14, after that blowout everyone was all-in on Montana and the team. Montana and Bill Walsh built a trust and symmetry you could see on the field.  The Niners closed the season 10-1, beat Dallas with The Catch, and won their first Super Bowl.

Dallas is the measuring stick for the Niners going back to the early ‘70s. That regular season blowout over the Cowboys in 1981 was when the media and the fans bought in completely. 

I get the sense this year’s blowout over Dallas is similar. The team is well-established, but this is the game where all the doubt on Purdy fades away. He proves he’s a special talent, and that he and Shanahan have trust and symmetry on the field.

George Kittle – Kittle loves the lights and a national audience. Three touchdowns, tying the franchise record held by Vernon Davis, who was at the game.

The Coaching Staff – This was an across-the-board masterpiece. Kyle Shanahan’s game plan used Christian McCaffrey as a decoy early to set up Brandon Aiyuk, and the Cowboys could never defend both at once.

The Niners get praise for positionless football and it’s well-earned. However, what makes this group special are the combinations. It’s the pairing of McCaffrey and Aiyuk that can’t be stopped at the same time. It takes a swarm to stop McCaffrey in the run but Aiyuk can’t be covered man up. A defense has to pick their poison with this team, again and again. McCaffrey and Aiyuk, and Deebo Samuel, and Kittle, and Kyle Juszczyk. Someone's always open, and Purdy processes so quickly that he’ll find the open receiver.

A tip of the cap also to Chris Foerster, who had his offensive line group ready, and Shanahan balanced fronts well in multiple looks. The league’s best pass rush had one sack for two yards. Micah Parsons was frustrated by the ever-changing matchups. DeMarcus Lawrence, who’s been playing at an All-Pro level, disappeared entirely, other than the one pressure that Purdy turned into a touchdown.

Another tip to Johnny Holland, the coach of the league’s best linebacker tandem, who dominated the game, sacks for Warner and Dre Greenlaw, along with three tackles for loss and a pick.  A tip to Kris Kocurek as the defensive line had two sacks and nine hits on Prescott, including half a sack and four hits by Nick Bosa.

A final nod to Steve Wilks. Mismatches in the secondary, no worries, Dallas only puts up ten points. An early possession saw CeeDee Lamb unexpectedly doubled near the line of scrimmage. Wilks bet on no deep throw on the play and it worked. Lamb struggled to get going, which made Dak Prescott struggle as well. A Hufanaga blitz led to a Prescott pick.

As Emmanuel Moseley said after the Niners beat Dallas in last year’s playoffs, “Dak’s gonna Dak.” Exactly right and on this night, prophetic. Prescott remains the gift and the curse for Dallas, who are now looking at 10-7 or 11-6 and a wild card at best.

The Niner coaching staff was on point, the team played one of their best games in the Shanahan Era. Focused and dominant throughout, undefeated at 5-0 and playing at a peak level of execution. Niners 42 Dallas 10.

Statement made.