What is, and isn’t, at stake for Dallas Cowboys at 49ers in primetime

Do you think this is finally the time when the Cowboys can beat the 49ers?

The Dallas Cowboys bye week has come and gone without any notable changes to the team’s personnel, leaving the coaching staff and veteran players to address things like “fundamentals” and “practice effort” as ways this 3-3 team can improve and still make something of a season faced with so much turmoil through just six games.

Any on-field adjustments the Cowboys are prepared to make off the bye will have to come on the road under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football for the second time this season. That will happen in Santa Clara against a 49ers team that’s had their number in recent matchups to say the least. The last time these two teams met was under these exact circumstances in week five a year ago, with the home 49ers beating the Cowboys 42-10 on a Sunday night. It was the largest win for the 49ers over the Cowboys in their franchise history, and the one that tipped the all-time series in their favor 20-19 with one tie dating back to 1960.

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The 49ers are certainly facing their own long list of issues coming into this game with a 3-4 record. Their most recent loss in a Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs saw wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk tear his ACL and MCL, now out for the season, at the same time Deebo Samuel was hospitalized after Sunday’s game with a pneumonia/lung issue. San Francisco also doesn’t expect running back Christian McCaffrey to return for this week eight meeting with Dallas.

If it wasn’t for the general state of apathy and disdain towards the Cowboys, the conversation around The Star this week could well be about how this is the most vulnerable 49ers team they’ll face and looking to snap a three game losing streak that includes two playoff defeats that ended consecutive seasons for Dallas. Those conversations will still happen amongst the fan base and, of course, within the coaching staff that’s had extra time to prepare for the 49ers, but with it comes other elephant in the room topics like how can the Cowboys defend the run better, or handle pre-snap motion, and better yet remember they’re also allowed to use it themselves on offense? The Cowboys will need all of these things and then some to play a complete game and pull off a road upset against Kyle Shanahan’s team. The Cowboys are currently within a one score underdog at +5.5 points.

A look around the current NFL standings shows a desperate need for more teams to at very least reach above average status and remain within striking distance of the few elite teams starting to separate from the pack. So much so, that this week’s edition of SNF concluded with Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth trying to sell a Jets team that just lost their fourth straight game as one still in the hunt while touting the Steelers team that beat them – but also lost at home to the Cowboys and at the Colts – as in the mix of AFC title contenders.

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With this in mind, there’s little doubt that this Sunday’s winner will be praised for overcoming adversity, quieting the outside noise with a win, and finding a way to stay relevant in the weeks to come. If this is going to be Mike McCarthy’s team, they’ll first have to play a full four quarters worthy of tuning in for, as the last time they took the field ended in the worst loss of Jerry Jones’ entire ownership era of the team, 47-9 versus the Detroit Lions. Off of a loss like that, is there really such thing as a win that can inspire enough of a buy in from players and fans alike to spark a run for the Cowboys, especially with this 49ers team far from the Super Bowl level they’ve come to expect right now?

Or is this game about something much simpler for Dallas, trying to show life against a nameless, faceless opponent for their own sake and that they’re at least trying to keep up with the times of modern football and match some of the 49ers’ creativity on offense as well as aggression on defense? This can’t be another game where a Dallas opponent looks like they play a different sport entirely to the Cowboys, which the Saints did on their home turf in week two, then the Ravens followed up a week later in the first half, and now most recently the Lions from start to finish.

Win or lose, might these be the biggest takeaways for what the Cowboys can get out of their remaining ten games to follow?

Like we covered earlier in the bye week, the Cowboys’ offseason complacency has been met with a mix of both expected issues that come with a lack of depth, and unexpected ones from core players either not playing up to standard or being out with injury.

The Cowboys front office knows that roster attrition and players departing in free agency or retiring will come up again at the end of what already feels like a lost season, and with it an entirely new set of on-field problems will arise – especially if the losses continue to pile up and the expected mass exodus of coaches leaving The Star occurs shortly after. McCarthy is far from the only coach at the end of his contract in Dallas, with several other position coaches and staffers also working for their job. The “competitive nature” of this situation has become nothing more than fodder for dysfunction after just six games.

Even if this season miraculously ends in Dallas hoisting their sixth Lombardi trophy, and a regular season win against the 49ers is viewed as the turning point, the team will face all these same issues as they approach free agency and the draft with a new set of roster conundrums. Using each opportunity they get to take the field with this blend of down-the-roster players alongside others Dallas is counting on to be part of their core through an “all in rebuild” (new term, anyone?) as an honest evaluation of what’s in place to work with is infinitely more valuable in the long run than any regular season win – even against the big, bad 49ers that aren’t even so big or bad right now.

The Cowboys prevailing any way possible on Sunday night may bring back similar feelings to the win in Pittsburgh, which then begs the question if they can avoid another letdown like they had of epic proportions against the Lions. With the Cowboys’ week nine opponent being a Falcons team that just lost by 20 points at home to the Seahawks, and the outlook for players like Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland improving to get healthier as an above .500 team, this possibility is in front of them.

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Also in front of them are the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders in the NFC East standings though, as well as teams like the Lions, Vikings, and Packers who all look better via the simple eye test than the Cowboys right now. They are all multiple on offense, can run and pass at a high level, and handle the basic things like tackling consistently well on defense.

The Packers are the team still responsible for sending the Cowboys home winning streak into a tailspin in last year’s Wild Card round, as Dallas has started this campaign 0-3 from AT&T Stadium in response.

All of this adds up to this week’s game being one that’s critical to look beyond the rich history of both franchises. Cowboys versus 49ers is sure to drum up championship memories for both teams, but only one team has consistently played at a championship level anytime over the last decades. The Cowboys beating this depleted 49ers team for their fourth win of the season through seven games does not make them such a team overnight. Showing they can be competitive and refreshed off of the bye with a better approach to the game can be the first baby step towards getting there though, as McCarthy is publicly confident the lumps his young team is taking now will pay off later. Now is as good a time as any to show this could be true.

The Cowboys schedule does not get any easier in the weeks following this game. A win at the 49ers could easily be humbled with road trips to the Falcons or home date with the Eagles to follow, or a loss could lead to more spiraling that makes it even more challenging for the front office to honestly evaluate what they can even draw from this difficult season.

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This is the meaning of what’s at stake for a franchise being put under the microscope like never before as they take the field for the next eleven weeks straight. The games will always have meaning, but for reasons that feel unfamiliar when it comes to discussing the finer details of a rebuild happening in front of our eyes. As mentioned, there are far more understood reasons that Jerry and this front office find a way to make every kickoff mean something, but all of it is part of the cycle of mediocrity that’s held the team back from reaching the very levels their upcoming opponent has soared to.

It’s a cycle. Dallas still plays in meaningful games, satiating fans who would proudly exclaim, “At least we’re not the Browns.” When they lose in the postseason or late in the regular season, those same fans could point to the high-priced player they had been conditioned for months to put all the blame on, and the vicious circle continued. What’s happening now and is likely what’s gotten Jones so angsty in the media is that many are starting to wake up to his stingy and lazy patterns: Proclaiming to go all-in, then do next to nothing to improve the roster, using low-cost draft picks to play far above their salaries, before villainizing them to the fans for asking for the money they deserve.

If both teams continue to struggle and fall short of their expectations on the 2024 season, it is infinitely easier to envision a world where Shanahan gets the benefit of the doubt with injuries and the 49ers keep that continuity rather than McCarthy earning the same and the Cowboys not having to start over at the top of their coaching staff.

The Cowboys will still need many of the players that play a big role in the upcoming game against the 49ers to be in it for the long haul. That is why the intensity of what should be a passionate rivalry with San Francisco needs to be kept at bay and put in perspective as just the next 60 minutes this team has to show any of the positives that can make them an outfit to take seriously. This is the reality of what’s at stake for the 2024 Cowboys these days. It is humbling, but also true that overcoming it could see them remain in contention for a playoff spot starting with a post-bye win streak of some sorts.