The San Francisco 49ers came to a seemingly never-in-risk 42-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5, who committed four turnovers. Brock Purdy was extremely efficient and George Kittle scored three touchdowns.
Cowboys @ 49ers: At a glance
- Brock Purdy played extremely efficiently and led the 49ers to their fifth win of the season in the fifth game with four touchdown passes. George Kittle scored three touchdowns.
- While the Cowboys’ defense was hardly a factor, the home team’s defense forced four turnovers and had the game completely under control.
- Christian McCaffrey continued his record-breaking streak of scoring touchdowns in consecutive games.
Cowboys @ 49ers: The game report
When Mike McCarthy settled for a 50-yard field goal at the start of the third quarter instead of playing 4th & 5 at the Niners’ 32, it was something of a surrender. This was followed by another touchdown from George Kittle – his third of the game -, a desperate interception after a deep ball from Dak Prescott and another Niners touchdown to make it 35:10. The game was decided very early on at the start of the final quarter.
It started with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy to Kittle after less than five minutes. After a few punts on both sides and fumbles by Tony Pollard and then Christian McCaffrey deep in the red zone, the home team turned things around again. Purdy threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Kittle, and the visitors had their best drive of the game. After 11 plays, Prescott found KaVontae Turpin for a 26-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter. However, the Niners struck back with a long drive of their own and McCaffrey made up for his mistake with a 1-yard touchdown run.
After the break, apart from Brandon Aubrey’s field goal, only the 49ers played. Kittle scored his third TD of the game, Kyle Juszczyk caught a TD pass and after another Prescott interception, running back Jordan Mason added a 26-yard touchdown run.
An interception by Prescott followed and both teams took out their starters, including the quarterbacks, early on, so that Sam Darnold and Cooper Rush took over in the end.
The 49ers remain undefeated as one of two teams (Eagles), while the Cowboys are now two games behind Philly in the NFC East.
Dallas Cowboys (3-2) @ San Francisco 49ers (5-0)
Result: 10:42 (0:7, 7:14, 3:7, 0:10) BOXSCORE
Cowboys @ 49ers: Key stats
- McCaffrey has now scored at least one touchdown in 14 straight games (including playoffs), passing Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith for the fourth-longest such streak in franchise history.
- Purdy has now thrown multiple touchdown passes for the eighth time in his first 10 NFL starts. He has tied Kurt Warner and Deshaun Watson for the most by such players after ten starts since 1950.
- The Niners gained 421 total yards in the game, more than twice as many as the Cowboys (197). They also had the ball for far longer (36:55 minutes) and had far more first downs (25:8).
The star of the game: Brock Purdy (quarterback, 49ers)
Purdy remains undefeated as a starter in the regular season and had a sparkling night against the Cowboys. In just over three quarters, he threw four touchdown passes and gained 252 yards (17/24) while also averaging 0.71 EPA/Play, an ultra-efficient performance. He wasn’t impressed at all by the Cowboys’ actually good defense.
The flop of the game: Dak Prescott (quarterback, Cowboys)
Of course you can also question the Cowboys defense, but you have to stop the Niners first. It was therefore up to Prescott and Co. to keep up. And that didn’t work at all. In fact, the Cowboys committed four turnovers, including three interceptions, none of which should have happened.
The highlight of the game
With clever play design, the Niners managed to create a free throw and completely open receiver Kittle. That was the second touchdown of the game, putting San Francisco fully on track.