Week 7 - Returning home to Levi's Stadium where the (0-6) San Francisco 49ers would play host to the (2-3) Dallas Cowboys, head coach Kyle Shanahan had hopes that his team's first home game in over a month would bring some good fortune. But after suffering five consecutive losses by a combined 13-points entering Sunday, the 49ers who were plagued by a trio of fumbles, stood little chance and were embarrassed by a whopping 30-points in their first game at home since Week 3. On a day the Niners honored former receiver Dwight Clark, the recipient who authored arguably the most famed play in NFL history "The Catch" 35 years ago against the Cowboys, 49er fans were left with a bad taste in their mouths following the largest loss in the Dallas-San Francisco rivalry since October 12, 1980.
With many 49er greats on hand for Dwight Clark's halftime ceremony, Niner fans would be left reminiscing of better days and fantasizing of how well those greats of yesteryear could help this team. In at quarterback making his first career start and hoping to one day cement his legacy among the great 49er QB's before him would be rookie C.J. Beathard who would also see his first bit of action in front of the Niner faithful. And just like he did a week ago, Beathard would take his first snap with his team trailing as things once again got off to a rocky start for San Francisco. Entering Sunday's game coming off a BYE week and having lost two straight, Dallas would look a lot more like the team that dominated their way to the No. 1 seed in the NFC a year ago and were given a golden opportunity before San Francisco's offense even took the field. After forcing a three and out on Dallas' opening possession, 49ers rookie Trent Taylor would fumble the punt return inside the 20-yard line to setup an early touchdown by running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The rushing touchdown by Elliott would kick start a busy day for the reigning rushing leader from a season ago as he would strike pay dirt again just one possession later to give Dallas a double-digit lead that they wouldn't relinquish. San Francisco would get on the board on the ensuing possession thanks to a Robbie Gould field goal, but their inability to reach the end zone would prove to be costly as Dallas continued to pile on points with score after score. After the first of three touchdown passes on the afternoon by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, the 49ers offense would finally begin to show some promise as Beathard would help get his team to the red zone just before halftime. Looking to cut the deficit in half, San Francisco found themselves knocking on the door at the 5-yard line before Beathard was blindsided from behind, resulting in a fumble that would preserve Dallas' 17-point lead heading into the half.
The Cowboys would open the second half much like they did the first, this time needing only one play to find the end zone. A pair of nice blocks would allow Elliott to add to his already busy day by recording his third touchdown of the afternoon and first of the receiving variety as he caught a screen pass and took it 72-yards to the house while walking the tightrope along the sideline. Elliott would be a thorn in the side of the San Francisco defense virtually all afternoon as he rushed for 147 yards and finished with over 200-yards in total. Prescott would get in on the fun one possession later as he added a 2-yard touchdown run of his own to run the score up to 33-3. For Beathard, the first start of his career would quickly turn into one he would prefer to forget as he was sacked for a fifth time, fumbling and turning the ball over yet again. Dallas would capitalize one final time as Prescott connected in the end zone with receiver Dez Bryant who displayed some nifty footwork while leaping into the air and coming down with the ball for the touchdown.
With the game well out of reach, the 49ers would finally find the end zone with a garbage time touchdown as Beathard used his legs to punch it in from 4-yards out. Though Beathard failed to log a single touchdown pass on the afternoon, he also steered clear of throwing any interceptions, but his offensive-line didn't do him any favors as the pair of fumbles on five total sacks for 48 yards would be his downfall as Dallas came away with the 40-10 victory to snap their 2-game losing streak. Completing six more passes in 13 more attempts than his counterpart, Beathard (22-for-36, 235 yards) managed to out pass Prescott (16-for-25, 234) by a yard despite the Cowboys QB benefiting from a 72-yard dump off. The 40-point outburst by Dallas would mark the second time this season the 49er defense had allowed 40-points or more. It would also be the third contest this season in which the 49ers failed to log a single quarterback sack.
Week 8 Preview - The (0-7) 49ers will have another tough task in store for Week 8 when they hit the road again to face the Philadelphia Eagles who boast the NFL's best record at 6-1. Coming off a 34-24 victory against the division rival Redskins on Monday Night Football, second-year quarterback Carson Wentz is looking to improve off his 4 TD performance against Washington and strengthen his case for MVP. San Francisco will need to play a much cleaner game on offense if they want to pull of the upset and record their first win of the season. In need of a more solid performance defensively, San Francisco will see a change of position as Pro Bowl safety Eric Reid will be asked to make a start at inside linebacker after being moved to the position against Dallas. Whether this is a position Shanahan and GM John Lynch plan to keep Reid at long-term is unknown at this point as the former right-round pick will be a free-agent at the end of the season.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
Week 4 - Since a dominant win in Week 1 at home against the Rams to open the season, the 49ers have yet to play again at their home field of Levi's Stadium and have yet to add another victory, entering Sunday's meeting with the (2-1) Cowboys on a two game losing skid at 1-2 on the year. But with rookie QB Dak Prescott and first round running back Ezekiel Elliott learning more and more and adapting quite well to the NFL week after week, these aren't the same exact Dallas Cowboy 49ers head coach Chip Kelly grew accustomed to facing while with the Eagles. With many claiming the Cowboys' season was done for the moment starting quarterback Tony Romo went down with a back injury during the preseason and was ruled out for 6-8 weeks, Dallas' crop of talented rookies have answered the call and have flipped the script to keep their season afloat.
After kickoff it was the home team who dominated most of the first half, as the 49ers jumped out to an early lead once Dallas' opening-drive resulted in a missed field goal by kicker Dan Bailey. The field goal attempt which went wide-left would mark the first time this season that Dallas failed to score on their opening-drive. For a team that's been terrible on third downs this year, the 49ers bucked the trend on their first offensive possession by scoring on a 33-yard touchdown on 3rd & 7 when QB Blaine Gabbert found a wide-open Jeremy Kerley who scored the easy touchdown and his first with the team to put San Francisco ahead early. After going 0-for-10 on third downs last week in Seattle, the Niners got off to a blazing start by going 6-for-6 on third downs in this one, including a touchdown ran in on 3rd & 1 by running back Carlos Hyde in the second quarter. But even with Chip Kelly's offense scoring touchdowns on each of their first two offensive possessions and Dallas facing their largest deficit of the season, the tables would be turned before the half as the Cowboys offense mustered up a pair of unanswered touchdowns of their own to tie the game at 14. With the 49ers winning an earlier challenge for Dallas having their foot on the goal line when recovering a punt that would've pinned the 49ers inside the 1-yard line, coach Kelly's decision not to challenge a punt return when Cowboys return man Lucky Whitehead's knee touched the ground after breaking a tackle, would haunt him for 11 costly yards. Then came a horrendous penalty call on the 49ers which would change the entire complexion of the game.
Facing a 3rd & 6 near midfield and yet to sniff the end zone, the San Francisco defense would come up with another stop to force a sack. What should've been a Dallas punt, turned into a momentum-swining first down as 49ers safety Jaquiski Tartt was called for "unnecessary roughness" for a baby push on Prescott while he was wrapped up. The 15-yard penalty and automatic first down would breathe new life back into the drive and allowed the Cowboys to score their first touchdown just three plays later as Prescott found receiver Terrance Williams streaking down the right sideline for a 20-yard touchdown. Making matters worse, a shanked punt on San Francisco's following drive would put Dallas in position to tie the game just before the half as the Cowboys rookie QB utilized his future Hall of Fame tight-end and the sideline to perfection in the 2 minute offense with a 1:50 remaining in the half. And with just 16 seconds to go, Prescott capitalized by connected with Brice Butler in the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.
With San Francisco's lead gone with the wind, the 49ers were in need of a jolt on offense and appeared destined for an equally fast start to begin the second half when Carlos Hyde rumbled for a 32-yard carry on the first play of the third quarter. Gabbert would follow that up with possibly the best placed pass of his career as he connected with tight-end Garrett Celek who hauled in a one-hander for a 29-yard gain on a throw that only the receiver could've caught. Unfortunately, it would be the last offensive highlight of the day for the Niners who had to settle for a Phil Dawson field goal which helped them retake the lead at 17-14. From there on the game would turn into the 'Zeke show as Elliott rushed for 50 yards on 7 carries on Dallas' following drive before finishing with 96 yards in the second half alone, capped off with a 1-yard touchdown to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game. After forcing Dallas to punt on their following drive and setting up shop near midfield thanks to a nice return from Kerley, the Niners gave the ball right back to their opponent as Gabbert went for the home run pass to Torrey Smith on first down and under-threw him as Dallas' Morris Claiborne came up with the easy interception. They would turn the turnover into three points as Bailey banged in a field goal to give Dallas a 7-point lead.
Facing four down territory, the 49ers would have one final chance as they faced a 4th and 6 call in which they would come up short as Gabbert threw shy of the first down marker and gaining only 3 yards on a pass to Smith. The game would then be iced on a 47-yard catch and go to Cole Beasley as Dallas came out on top, 24-17. Though he would have a close call during Dallas' opening-drive which almost saw 49ers Pro-Bowl safety Eric Reid come up with the first thrown interception of Prescott's career, the talented rookie saw his record streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception to begin a career continue thru his first 131 career pass attempts as he threw for 245 yards and a pair of touchdowns without his star receiver Dez Bryant who missed the game with a knee injury. Elliott added a career-best 138-yards on the ground to best his former Ohio State teammate Carlos Hyde who rushed for 74-yards as the two met at midfield after the game to swap jerseys. With the loss, San Francisco fell to 1-3 on the year, but an even bigger blow than the loss itself would be the injury to Pro-Bowl linebacker NaVorro Bowman who left the game midway thru the 3rd quarter on a non-contact play. Bowman would be carted off the field with what later revealed to be a ruptured Achilles tendon which would rule Bowman out for the remainder of the season. While the injury opened the flood gates for Elliott to roam free through the middle in the second half, the bigger picture is that the 49ers will be without their emotional leader on defense going forward.
Week 5 Preview - Entering Week 4 with 8 takeaways thru the first three weeks (tied for 3rd most in the NFL), the 49ers failed to add a single takeaway in their loss to the Cowboys. They'll need to get back on track in the takeaway department if they plan to win on a short week when they host the (1-3) Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football. After dominating their way to a division crown just a season ago, the Cardinals have resembled anything but a division champion this season while struggling to the tone of back-to-back losses to the Bills and Rams. Still seeking their first road win of the year, the Cardinals will be without QB Carson Palmer who suffered a concussion in Week 4 as backup Drew Stanton gets the start. As for the 49ers who had little luck against Arizona in both meetings a season ago, the Cardinals are one of the teams who have struggled just as much as they have to begin 2016 and might have a chance to come up with their second win of the year. The 49ers will also be helped out a bit on the defensive front with Aaron Lynch returning from a 4-game suspension served for violating the league's substance abuse policy. If the offense struggles, expect an appearance from 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
