San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) takes a leap of celebration after scoring a touchdown with tight end George Kittle (85) and guard Dominick Puni (77) in the second half at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara on Sun Oct 27, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco 49ers(4-4) had a slow start in the first half of their game with the Dallas Cowboys (3-4) trailing 10-6 after two quarters. The 49ers came alive in the second half scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter taking a 27-10 lead.

The Cowboys surged in the fourth quarter and with 3:32 left in the game the score was 30-24 in favor of the 49ers. San Francisco held on and was able to win this game and reach the five hundred mark with a 4-4 record.

Game recap: The first quarter highlighted two teams that are very evenly matched. The only score that came out of the opening quarter was a San Francisco field goal. 49er kicker Anders Carlson put the only points on the board in the first quarter, a 50 yard field goal and a 3-0 San Francisco lead.

After a slow start, the Cowboys scored twice in the second quarter. Ezekiel Elliot scored a touchdown rushing for a yard and the score giving Dallas a 7-3 lead at 10:58. The Cowboys would follow that up at 2:56 with a Brandon Aubrey 29 yard field goal extending the Dallas lead to 10-3.

San Francisco would cut that lead to 10-6 when Anders Carlson kicked a 44 yard field goal. With 54 seconds left in the second half, San Francisco had possession and the opportunity to either cut the Dallas lead or possibly take the lead.

Both of these teams are coming off disappointing losses last week and the play in the first half show-cased some highly competitive play. With 34 seconds left on the clock the 49ers had driving into Dallas territory setting up camp on the Cowboy 46 yard line. San Francisco was unable to move the ball and was looking at a 4th and 17 with ten seconds left in the half. The score was 10-6 at halftime.

The three holding penalties in the first half of play had really hurt San Francisco. If the list of injured 49ers was not enough there was an in-game injury that was significant in the first quarter. Jordan Mason who had been doing a beautiful job in the absence of Christian McAffrey went down in the opening quarter .

Mason did jog off the field after medical attention on the field and did not enter the medical tent. He did take the field but it was brief and he eventually did exit to the locker room in the second quarter. His return is now questionable. He is suffering a should injury adding to the burden of his AC joint sprain that he has been managing for a few weeks.

The 49ers wasted little time to start the third quarter. They scored a touchdown at 12:57 in the third taking a 13-10 lead. Isaac Guerendo rushed for four yards and the score. Anders Carlson made the extra point and San Francisco had a 13-10 lead.

Minutes later the 49ers intercepted a Prescott pass and San Francisco was back in business. They drove down deep into Dallas territory looking to extend their lead. They didn’t wait long as Brock Purdy connected with George Kittle for two yards and another second half 49er touchdown taking a 20-10 lead.

Dak Prescott and the Cowboys had a lot of work to do with 7:08 left in the quarter. The problem for the Cowboys was the dominating defense that San Francisco was bringing down after down. The Cowboys were having a lot of trouble moving the ball and giving possession back to the 49ers time after time.

With 1:44 left in the quarter Purdy was connecting and the running game was also on fire for San Francisco as they drove down to the Dallas ten yard line first and goal. Purdy himself took the ball into the end zone for San Francisco’s third touchdown of the third quarter and a 27-10 lead. The second half so far had been all 49ers.

The Cowboys had possession to start the fourth quarter but continued to be manhandled by the San Francisco defense. Prescott had been intercepted twice and sacked twice.

The Cowboy offense had been completely shutdown by the 49ers. With 11:57 left in the game San Francisco was again on the move but stalled out and was forced to punt when Purdy narrowly avoided an interception.

With under ten minutes in the fourth quarter the Cowboys offense got going and at 7:58 put together an impressive scoring drive. Prescott connected with a wide open CeeDee Lamb in the end zone for seven yards and their second touchdown of the game.

Trailing by the score of 17-27 the Cowboys had a lot of work yet to do. They would need an immediate stop with 7:52 left on the clock. Dallas did not get that badly needed stop allowing a San Francisco Ricky Pearsall rush for 39 yards down to the Dallas 26 yard line and any hope for a Dallas comeback had begun to dim. The 49ers were unable to find the end zone but did kick their third field goal of the game. Carlson made a 41 yard field goal extending their lead to 30-17.

Dallas refused to throw in the towel scoring with 3:32 left in the game. Prescott again connected with Lamb this time for 20 yards and we had a new ball game. San Francisco now had to protect their 30-24 lead. As it turned out, it was just too little too late for the Dallas Cowboys. The final was 30-24 and San Francisco had reached the five hundred mark with a record of 4-4.

Purdy had a phenomenal game finishing with 260 passing yards and 56 rushing yards. He had no interceptions. Running Back Isaac Guerendo finished with 85 rushing yards and receiving honors went to Kittle with 128 yards. San Francisco had finally put it all together in the second half of this game for the win.

Game notes: Sunday Night Football featured a matchup between the 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys (3-4). Both teams have struggled this season and both teams are desperate for a win. In their last game last week Sunday the Cowboys got trounced by the Detroit Lions to the tune of 47-9 and the 49ers lost in a Super Bowl rematch to the Kansas City Chiefs 28-18.

This game was a hard fought battle. Both teams had offensive weapons as well as great defenses. They were well matched and this was a great Sunday Night Football game. Both teams have talent at quarterback in the 49ers Brock Purdy and Cowboys Dak Prescott.

San Francisco has had terrible luck with injuries. Deebo Samuel was hospitalized last week with pneumonia and Brandon Aiyuk with a terrible season ending injury, a torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

The good news for the 49ers is that both Kittle and Samuel were on board for this game. Jauan Jennings remains out with a hip injury. Christian McCaffrey remains out as well and kicker Jake Moody remains out with a right ankle issue.

San Francisco is really banged up right now as are many teams across the league. These injuries can really play havoc with season outcomes. It all comes down to who is on the roster that can fight through these injuries and come out on the other side.

San Francisco will be back on the field on November 10th after a bye week in week 9. They will be taking on the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:00 AM PST and will be broadcast on Fox from Raymond James Stadium.