Dallas Cowboys Report Card: Failing Grades in 42-10 Loss at San Francisco 49ers

The Dallas Cowboys faced the San Francisco 49ers in a potentially season-defining game. With our five keys to win establishing how to pass this stern test, Mike McCarthy's team failed and in a big way.

"Carpe Omnia'' has been the Dallas Cowboys' season theme, but on
"Sunday Night Football'' in Week 5, it was the San Francisco 49ers who seized everything in a 42-10 demolition of "America's Team.''

The 49ers bullied Dallas in every way one could think of as they buried the Cowboys in a way that could potentially have long-lasting repercussions.

Before the clash, we highlighted five keys to win for the Cowboys as they looked to plant their stake in the ground and show that they should be taken seriously as Super Bowl contenders. 

So, how did they fare? What are our grades? Hint: it makes for grim reading.

1. Limit offensive turnovers: BIG FAIL

If there was one thing that the Dallas offense couldn't do, it was turn the ball over. After having just one in the first month of the season, the wheels came off against the Niners.

Prescott threw three interceptions (one bounced off Michael Gallup who was well covered) while Tony Pollard fumbled as the offense simply couldn't get anything going all night.

The Cowboys couldn't afford one turnover ... instead, they had four. 

2. Stop Christian McCaffrey and 49ers run game: FAIL

The run game was always going to be a point of emphasis. San Francisco had 41 rushing attempts for 170 yards and two touchdowns while going at 4.1 yards a carry. 

Was it a bullying performance? Not overly, but in a similar way to last year's playoff game, they did enough to make Dallas think the run game was a constant threat, which opened up passing lanes for QB Brock Purdy to tear apart the Cowboys' secondary.

Strictly by the numbers, McCaffrey "only'' managed 50 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. But overall, Dallas got pushed around.

3. Convert red-zone drives: BIG FAIL

The Cowboys' offense struggled to get anything going aside from a 13-play, 78-yard drive that ended in a KaVontae Turpin touchdown in the first quarter.

But in what is a true stat that shows how big of a beatdown the 49ers defense laid on McCarthy's offense, the Cowboys didn't even get into the red zone at all. Not once.

The 49ers laid a good old-fashioned beatdown on the Dallas Cowboys / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

4. Get after Brock Purdy: BIG FAIL

At times, Purdy had enough time to sip his cup of tea and ready the newspaper. The much-vaunted Cowboys' defense simply couldn't often-enough lay a glove on Shanahan's quarterback as they were sliced apart with ruthless efficiency thanks to outstanding protection.

Purdy barely broke a sweat as he torched coordinator Dan Quinn's defense as Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and company barely got near "Mr Irrelevant" as they only grabbed one sack in what many can say was a performance that put an end to all the "Doomsday" talk.

5. Don't fall victim to emotional quicksand: BIG FAIL

The Cowboys were waist-deep in quicksand halfway through the first quarter and the harder they fought to get back into the game, the running lanes opened up, and the 49ers ran a sublime screen pass to take advantage of Dallas' want to rush Purdy.

Then, there were Prescott's interceptions (two of which happened on back-to-back drives). Needing to get his team back into the game, things became disjointed really quickly as Prescott's three interceptions put a full stop to the poor performance.

Dak Ponders Dallas Cowboys' 'Culture & Locker Room' Being 'Tested'

Halfway through the third quarter, the entire Cowboys team was fully submerged in brutal quicksand. And now there are questions about whether they "checked out'' and how the locker room faith will be "tested.''

Going 0-for-5 on the checklist means the Cowboys failed this gigantic test ... with a sad "42-10'' stamped across the top of the report card.