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The San Francisco 49ers got off to a slow start on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. In part due to injuries, Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy were unable to provide the usual spark you see from the offense as the Cowboys took a 10-6 lead into halftime.
A deficit at the half was a slight alarm bell for the 49ers, who seemed in danger of dropping to 3-5 on the season. However, they responded with resilience, coming out in the third quarter on fire. The 49ers started the third quarter with a touchdown drive and then executed two more subsequent marches down the field, outscoring the Cowboys 21-0 in the third quarter and taking a 27-10 lead into the fourth.
After the game, Shanahan said that there was no secret message to get his team ready to go for the second half, according to 49ers Webzone.
“There was no message, it was, we've got to stop hurting ourselves,” Shanahan said. “We had, I think, seven and a half yards of play in the first half and had a bunch of big penalties that I thought really hurt us. Deebo's obvious one getting called back, a couple of the holdings on some long runs. And then, missing that fourth down was big. We felt we were doing some good stuff, but we hurt ourselves and it was nice to start off in the third quarter and go down and score right away. And the D started rolling. I think we got a turnover the next drive and did it again and got a little groove there for a little bit.”
Reason for worry for 49ers after near-collapse vs. Cowboys
After the 49ers came out of halftime and put together a stellar third quarter against the Cowboys, it seemed like they had the game under control. The Cowboys offense couldn't get anything going for much of the game and the 49ers looked like they were ready to cruise to the finish line.
As it turns out, the Cowboys weren't going to go away without a fight. Two quick touchdowns, with a 49ers field goal in between, cut the lead to 30-24, and out of nowhere Dak Prescott had the ball with a chance to go down and win the game.
The Cowboys were unable to come through one last time, and the 49ers escaped with the 30-24 win. However, the comeback raised concerns about the 49ers' defense that have popped up at various times this season.
Their depth up front has been depleted by injuries, specifically to defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. Unless it's Nick Bosa, the 49ers don't generate a consistent enough pass rush to scare teams in these obvious passing situations late in games.
The secondary is still talented and Charvarius Ward is still a top corner, but they lack an elite playmaker in the back end to make a game-saving play. The 49ers also had some communication problems and blown coverages, proving that this isn't the same buttoned-up defense that we've gotten used to seeing in years past.
