Our beloved San Francisco 49ers rode a gorgeous first-half performance to victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Though the second half was much more anxiety-inducing than the 49ers (or us fans) hoped for, the final score of 23-17 is the medicine we all needed..
There's a lot to unpack following the up-and-down performance. There will be time to get deeper into some of what transpired Sunday. For now, here's what stood out to me the most during the 49ers playoff-advancing win against hated rival Dallas.
Even without Nick Bosa, the defense shined
The 49ers defense held the Cowboys to just 307 yards of total offense at a clip of 4.4 yards allowed per play. Folks,
these stats represent 110 yards less than Dallas' per-game average, and 1.74 yards less per play.
Mind you, the 49ers did much of this without All-Pro snub Nick Bosa, who was injured (head) before halftime. Fred Warner also missed key time in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, and the 49ers saw other top defensive linemen go down with injuries throughout the contest.
Despite all that, Dak Prescott was under constant pressure most of the game. He was sacked five times (six different defenders were credited with at least half a sack), hit 14 times in the pocket, and Dallas managed 77 yards of offense on the ground (3.7 yards per attempt).
Even better, the 49ers saw Emmanuel Moseley and Ambry Thomas play outstanding ball on the perimeter against two of the best receivers in the game. CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper combined for seven receptions for 85 yards and no touchdowns.
It was a championship-caliber defensive effort. If Bosa can return next week, and if the defensive line can stay relatively healthy, this defense could just carry the 49ers to their sixth Super Bowl win.
Run game continues to dominate
Going into Wild Card Weekend, we here at TheSFNiners were convinced
a big key to victory Sunday was a heavy dose of Elijah Mitchell, Deebo Samuel, and the big boys up front. Man, did they deliver.
Mitchell was the workhorse of the 49ers offense. His stats aren't overly gaudy (96 yards on 27 carries and one touchdown). Yet the rookie's ability to consistently gain yards when holes are bottled up was a major aspect of the team's strategy to dominate time of possession and keep Dallas' offense off the field. Speaking of which, they did that to the tune of plus-7.54 minutes.
Deebo, as usual, was electric. The do-it-all star for the 49ers racked up 72 yards and one touchdown on 10 rushing attempts.
Teams know the 49ers are going to try running the ball down their throats. Dallas actually did a pretty decent job of creating problems for the run game. But the result speaks for itself. More of this going forward, please.
Jimmy Garoppolo nearly torpedoed 49ers
First of all, we're riding or dying with Jimmy Garoppolo the rest of the way. He's earned that. And yet again, he comes away from Sunday's game as the winning quarterback. That matters in a big way.
But the elephant in the room as it concerns Jimmy GQ has never gone away: He tends to throw at least a couple balls every game that could doom his team. It nearly happened a couple of times in Sunday's game, too.
The first major mistake was one that likely would have erased any hint of drama at the end of the game. Brandon Aiyuk absolutely dusted cornerback Trevon Diggs on a double-move to the sideline on 3rd-and-10 late in the third quarter.
