In week 8 of the NFL season the San Fransisco 49ers took on their long-time rivals, the Dallas Cowboys.  The Niners came into the week really needing a win to keep pace in the NFC West and to keep their playoff hopes alive and that’s just what they got as they defeated the Cowboys 30-24.  Let’s dive in to what went right and what went wrong this week for the Bang Bang Niner Gang. 

Tradition says we start with the injuries.  The Niners came into the game with Brandon Aiyuk out for the season, Jauan Jennings out again with a hip injury, and Deebo Samuel recovering from pneumonia.  Deebo played in the game but would leave at the beginning of the 4th quarter with a rib injury that has him day to day.  Jordan Mason was able to start the game but then left with a shoulder injury.  Renardo Green, who has been playing great, sprained an ankle in the 4^th and had to leave the game.  And finally, I think, Dee Winters became the 1^st 49er to enter the concussion protocol this season.   

Next, I want to talk about the special teams seeing as I have pissed all over them all season long.  And rightfully so.  This week, the Special Teams were very good.  Anders Carlson, actually playing in back-to-back weeks, made all of his kicks including a 50-yard field goal.  Wishnowsky was solid in the punting game and Cowing had a good day returning punts even if the refs did miss an obvious penalty against the Cowboys, but then screwing over the Niners on punt plays has become tradition for the refs this season.  Most importantly, they had zero turnovers in the return game and did not give up any big returns on either punts or kickoffs.  It’s the first time all season the Special Teams didn’t do something to cost the Niners.  And this was against the best special teams unit in the NFL. Hopefully this becomes the norm. 

The run defense was another area in which I thought the Niners played much better in this game than they have all season.  They routinely stuffed runs at the line of scrimmage and kept Dallas from staying ahead of the sticks.  The Cowboys ran for only 56 yards and 11 of those came on an end around.  It was a good night for the Niners run defense. 

The Pass defense was just as impressive until the 4^th quarter.  Before that they were getting all kinds of pressure (22) on Dak and recorded 2 sacks.  5 of those pressures came from Okuayinonu, who is emerging as a real play maker on the defensive line.  The pressure that didn’t result in sack-a-rounies caused Dak problems and allowed the Niners secondary to grab two interceptions.  One by Lenoir, who could have had a second one but Fred Warner knocked it down as Dak threw into a crowd of 49ers, and one by Ji’Ayir Brown.  The 49ers only gave up 10 points before the 4^th quarter. 

For the offense it was the tale of two halves.  In the first half they stumbled around a bit and only managed two field goals, one of which was a 50 yarder.  But coming out of half time they looked like a well-oiled machine.  No longer being held back by penalties and miscues they rattled off 3 straight TDs and blew the game open. 

It all started with George Kittle celebrating National Tight Ends Day by having his best game of the season with 6 catches for 128 yards and a TD.  His TD came from inside the Red Zone again as he has become the Niners go to guy down there.  A role he is very suited for.  He is now tied for second in the league with 6 TD receptions only one behind Ja’Marr Chase, who’s played one more game than Kittle. 

While his pass protection left a little to be desired, Isaac Guerendo had his second-best game of the season once Mason went down.  It seemed to me that Guerendo’s speed and shiftiness was the better style against Dallas’ defense as Mason and his power running struggled to get going even before he was injured.  Isaac even had 3 catches for 17 yards to go along with his 85 yards and a TD rushing.  Guerendo also went down at the end of the game instead of scoring the TD so the Niners could run out the clock.  This time it was definitely the right play.  The Niners ran for 223 yards as a team and averaged 6.2 yards per carry.  They would take that every time out. 

56 of those rushing yards came from Brock Purdy.  Yet again he made plays with his feet when things broke down in the passing game.  Unlike previous weeks, Brock wasn’t running from pressure as much as he was taking advantage of the defense when guys were covered. I think once CMC comes back there will be much less need for Brock to take off and run but I hope it doesn’t disappear from his game as a QB scramble when the defense is in tight man coverage and has their backs to him can be a very effective play. 

Purdy also had a good day passing the ball with 260 yards and a TD on 18 for 26 passing attempts.  Deebo had a good game.  While still obviously recovering from pneumonia, he had 71 yards on 4 catches before injuring his ribs.  The best development in the passing game was Ricky Pearsall’s performance.  He caught all 4 of his targets for 39 yards.  He looked good out there and he broke off 39 yards on an end around.  You can see why the Niners drafted him in the first round.  Now it’s just a matter of him catching up after all the time he had to take off. 

I mentioned how well the defense played before the 4^th quarter.  It seemed to me that once the 3^rd quarter went TD-pick-TD-punt-TD-punt and the 49ers took a 27-10 lead heading into the 4^th, the Niners, maybe with thoughts of their bye week seeping into their heads, went into “run the clock out” mode and stopped attacking the Cowboys on both sides of the ball.  Even the announcers pointed this out on the defensive side.  This resulted in Dallas getting back into the game.  This is something they can’t let happen.  Luckily, they were able to recover and finish the game strong. 

Some Quick Notes…

–Fred Warner had another forced fumble.  Sadly, the Niners failed to recover it. 

–George Kittle moved into 3^rd place on the Niners all time receiving list.  Appropriately on National Tight Ends Day

–It’s always funny to see receiving lists and see how far out ahead Jerry Rice is from everyone else. 

–Seriously??  The white pants again!?!?!?  Please let this be their last game in those hideous uniforms.

–I thought the Offensive line had its best game of the season.  It helps that Michah Parsons was not on the field.

–The Refs actually threw a flag when a 49ers defensive lineman was held.  I am sure that ref will be disciplined by the league.   

–For the second time in back-to-back weeks, the 49ers opponent was coming off its bye.  I believe this will be the case for 4 games this season.  Usually, the Niners have the most games against teams coming off their byes.  Seems fair. 

–CMC has a chance to return after the bye.  Greenlaw isn’t too far behind him.  Mason should be recovered by the next game as well as Renardo Green and 3rd and Jauan.   

–On their first possessions both teams ran the ball on 3^rd and long and neither of them got the first down.  Dallas punted and the Niners kicked the 50-yard field goal.  I thought it was odd that both teams ran the ball there.     

–Not counting the kneel down at the end, the Niners were 3 for 3 scoring TDs in the Red Zone.  It seems they have figured things out down there.

Well, that was a great way to head into the Bye week.  A bye week they really needed.  They may only be 4-4 but they are in a three-way tie for first place in the West so they are in good shape.  Hopefully they will start getting healthier and be able to make another run in the second half.