FRISCO, Texas — For the fourth time in a row, the Dallas Cowboys could not figure out the San Francisco 49ers. The more accurate framing of what happened in the 30-24 loss, however, is that the Cowboys sort of did figure them out, entering halftime with a 10-6 lead at Levi's Stadium, but that channel was quickly changed by Kyle Shanahan in the third quarter.
That's when Brock Purdy and his offense came alive to the tune of three touchdowns in as many drives, and one of those came on the heels of the 49ers defense grabbing one of Dak Prescott's two interceptions thrown that evening.
All told, the game was lost by the Cowboys in that quarter, and that quarter alone.
"The third quarter was definitely a factor in the outcome — the three three-and-outs by our offense and the one giveaway," said head coach Mike McCarthy. "You have ebbs and flows of the game and we definitely stayed in that valley way too long. It felt solid at halftime … we didn't give our defense any relief [in the third quarter]."
Despite the list of self-inflicted wounds in all three phases of the game, with even the usually stout special teams unit and Brandon Aubrey joining in on those, Prescott and the Cowboys had a chance to try and march down the field for a potential go-ahead touchdown after igniting with CeeDee Lamb in the final session but, unlike the outing against the Pittsburgh Steelers, there would be no fairy tale ending in California.
A couple more self-inflicted wounds later and the loss was effectively secured.
"We did an excellent job of fighting back in the fourth quarter and needed to make one or two more plays, and still had a chance to go down and win it on that last series," McCarthy said. "We're disappointed. I think our men had a really good week of preparation. There were definitely areas of improvement, but we still have a ton to work on.
"… We didn't get it done. We'll go back and continue to work hard on the planning part of it. … As coaches and players, we can learn from this. We're 3-4. That's the facts of this deal.
"We felt like we'd do what we needed to do to come in here and get the win, but we came up short."
So what is the answer going forward?
Whatever it might be, there are more tests to come that will require sharpened pencils.
After all, the midterm exams will continue the currently sky-high level of difficulty as they march into Atlanta to face the Falcons, then home to host the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans, followed by a trip to the nation's capital to battle the Washington Commanders.
Those four teams own a combined record of 22-9 through Week 8, and all lead their respective division with the exception of the Eagles — second place in the NFC East behind the Commanders.
Bottom line: the next four games will make or break the Cowboys' season.
"We've gotta keep working," McCarthy said of the team's mindset entering Week 9. "We've gotta stop the run and stay committed to the run for four quarters. Until we get that pattern working cohesively, we're not playing to our strength. That's a huge part of complementary football.
"We're losing the turnover ratio week in and week out, and we've not been able to stop the run or stay committed to the run. That's how we have to play and that's how we're gonna play. We need to be better at it."
And soon.
