SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Things were well under control for Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys in their latest attempt to take down Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers, until they weren't. It was the former who owned a 10-6 lead at halftime at Levi's Stadium, but the tables turned in the third quarter — heightened by Prescott's second interception of the night.
It marked the third consecutive contest in which the All-Pro quarterback has thrown at least two INTs, the first time he's had such a stretch in his career, and the first the Cowboys have seen since Troy Aikman did it in 1992; with the 49ers turning it into a touchdown on a short field to stretch their newfound lead to a 20-10 affair.
Asked about the interceptions, Prescott was as accountable as he was upset with himself.
"[I need to] not turn the ball over, period," he said. "I don't have to be perfect, but I damn sure can't have the turnovers. I've just gotta eat that [first throw] and take that sack. And the second one was as boneheaded of an interception as I've had.
"I tried to make a play, and had too much confidence in myself at that moment. Probably should've just thrown it away. I wish I would've put some more heat on it to CeeDee, or just out of bounds. That one hurt, to start off the third quarter that way allowed them to get a touchdown there. Then look at the final score and a touchdown was the difference."
Those turnovers, in combination with the Cowboys missing on arguably at least two opportunities to intercept Brock Purdy, created yet another situation in which Dallas lost the battle in that category.
It's something that's plagued them in both directions this season.
"Once again, we put ourselves behind in the turnover battle," said Prescott. "That's on me and I can't have that and win games. I've got to clean that up, period."
Despite the mistakes and the third quarter struggles on both sides of the ball, Prescott and the Cowboys were still in position to potentially win the game — after both sides of the ball came alive in the fourth quarter by way of halted drives against Purdy, one being a critical sack by linebacker DeMarvion Overshown with less than five minutes remaining in the game, and the Prescott-Lamb connection suddenly turning into a solar flare the 49ers had no answer for.
Lamb finished the game with 146 receiving yards and two touchdowns, accounting for 60 percent of Prescott's total yardage and 100 percent of the quarterback's touchdowns in San Francisco.
It all led to the ball being in Prescott's hands, down 30-24, with a chance to mount a comeback that would delete every mistake the team made over the course of the previous 56 minutes of football.
But a deep shot to KaVontae Turpin that landed incomplete helped end their hopes, and the 49ers went on to devour the rest of the clock to seal the deal and to close the coffin on Week 8.
"Me, personally, I'm frustrated," Prescott said. "I'm frustrated with myself and my play. I know the rest of the guys are [too], sitting at 3-4, but I can tell you that nobody is shaken or giving up. Frustration is very high, but it's a long season.
"A lot is still ahead of us. But, frustrated, and that's the best way I can put it. … They made the plays when they needed to and we didn't. We just haven't made the plays and they've made them more than us.
"It's been a couple years, a couple times, the sh-t's frustrating. I've got to make the plays, period."
The midterm exams won't get any easier for Dallas, as they prepare to head to Atlanta to face the red-hot Falcons before returning home to host the Philadelphia Eagles and then the Houston Texans — having yet to win at AT&T Stadium in 2024 — before taking back to the road to combat the suddenly dominant Washington Commanders.
"Take it one at a time, simple as that," said Prescott. "Been here before, in 2018, and [those who were here then] know what it takes in this league. You can get hot. You can get rolling. That's all you're looking to do and that's my point.
"It's frustrating, but nobody's giving up and nobody is shook from where we're at. We've just gotta focus up and go back on the road, and we've got another good team coming up. We've gotta make sure we come out with a victory, get even [in the record], and then we'll worry about after that — after this next road game.
"… We've lost four but we can get hot, and that's the plan."
The sooner they execute it, the better their odds will be of avoiding an absence in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, McCarthy's first season with the club.
Two years prior, in the aforementioned 2018 season, Prescott and the Cowboys got off to a 3-5 start before winning seven of their final nine games, including a five-game win streak from November through early December.
They'd prefer to avoid the 3-5 part this time around, but welcome the hot streak that followed.
What happens in Atlanta will tell the story.
