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Cowboys Pick On Someone Their Own Size: 10 'Whitty' Observations From Win Over Niners

Dallas Cowboys 41, San Francisco 49ers 33 in a pre-Christmas, under-televised ... yeah, thriller. Our 10 'Whitty' Observations

Richie Whitt

Dallas Cowboys 41, San Francisco 49ers 33 in a pre-Christmas, under-televised ... yeah, thriller. Our 10 'Whitty' Observations about an NFL Week 15 fun time ...

10. And, to think, NBC flexed this game out of primetime. 

Was it perfectly played? Hardly. Did it have playoff implications? Nope. But did it provide three hours of dramatic entertainment? You betcha. Andy Dalton vs. Nick Mullens wasn’t exactly Troy Aikman vs. Steve Young and neither team could prompt an invite to a holiday bowl game much less the College Football Playoff, but in a vacuum it was wholly watchable. 

READ MORE: Dallas Cowboys Yanked From Prime-Time TV 'A New Low,' Says Irvin

When’s the last time the Cowboys surrendered a Hail Mary touchdown on the game’s final play and still won comfortably?

9. A 49ers’ receiver wearing No. 81 caught a touchdown pass in a road game against the Cowboys and then ... didn’t run sprint to the most sacred star in sports to celebrate. 

Jordan Reed > Terrell Owens.

8. It looks great for his stats and the final score and his highlight package, but CeeDee Lamb better had been be 100-percent sure he was going to be untouched on his late touchdown return of an onside kick. A fall-down and the Cowboys take a knee and win. A fumble and … who knows? 

But he was indeed untouched. So props to him.

Coach Mike McCarthy, we good?

"You can't blame him,'' McCarthy said. "He caught it on the high bounce. ... He just saw this huge hole in front of him." 

7. Give the Cowboys two early fumbles and they’re at least a competitive team. Helped by two early recoveries, they beat the Bengals last week. And Sunday they benefitted from a couple of 49ers fumbles in taking a 14-0 lead. 

DeMarcus Lawrence again caused a fumble and Aldon Smith again recovered one. In other words, the Cowboys picked on someone their own size. 

The victory, of course, does come with NFL Draft ramifications come April. Sunday was good for fans of the 2020 Cowboys; bad for fans of the 2021 Cowboys.

6. When you spent tons of assets – in the form of trades, high draft picks and millions of dollars – to assemble Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and Lamb, isn’t every pass to Noah Brown a waste of resources? 

The seventh-round pick in 2017 was targeted six times, twice as much as Cooper. Worse, Brown finished with only one catch for 13 yards.

5. During his Hall-of-Fame coaching career, the 49ers’ Bill Walsh was knowing for scripting the game’s first 15 offensive plays for quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young. Not sure if the Cowboys rigidly stick to a predetermined set of plays early, but I am quite sure they don’t work. 

Sunday’s opening drive was three plays for a whopping three yards, the 14th game this year they have failed to score a touchdown on their first possession.

4. We’ve joked all season that Dalton is about as mobile as a mailbox (because he is), but his 45-yard completion to CeeDee Lamb while rolling right on third-and-7 was a beauty. His best on-the-move throw of the year.

3. Best – perhaps, only – two things to come out of 2020 for the Cowboys: Lamb on offense. Donovan Wilson on defense. Both playmakers provided glimpses of the future.

Oh, and one more ...

2. With Ezekiel Elliott missing the first game of his career due to injury (calf), Tony Pollard got his game in the spotlight. Review: He might be better than who we thought he was. 

Good hands. Faster than Zeke. Made a nifty juke and broke a physical tackle on his game-clinching touchdown run in the fourth quarter. But even after a combined 132 yards and two scores, he’s not an every-down back to build a franchise around. 

READ MORE: Could Dallas Cowboys Trade 'Our Best Player' Ezekiel Elliott To Jets?

Can he be an effective change-of-pace backup for Elliott moving forward? Definitely. Can he be a coveted trade pawn come draft time? Hmm.

In any event, the running backs room will be a happy place this week.

"Zeke's like my No. 1 fan,'' Pollard said. "He's definitely a good guy to have on your side."

1. Last week, the Cowboys’ beleaguered defense feasted on wobbly Bengals’ quarterback Brandon Allen. Sunday it was the woeful Mullens. Wilson and Anthony Brown made crucial fourth-quarter interceptions when the inept 49ers’ backup stared down receivers, decided to throw too late and then didn’t have the arm strength to get the ball where he wanted it to go. 

He took his last snap in San Francisco in 2016, but right now today Colin Kaepernick is a better quarterback than Mullens. That said, good on the Cowboys for taking advantage. Just a month ago, remember, they surrendered 41 points to Washington backup Alex Smith.

And now they are a game out of first place. With back-to-back wins for the first time all year.

McCarthy said Dallas now gets a "big chunk of confidence" from the consecutive wins. 

"It's something that will help us moving forward," he said.

So ... all together, thrilling. In its own way.

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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