At halftime of "Sunday Night Football," the Dallas Cowboys hold a surprising 10-6 lead over the host San Francisco 49ers.
San Francisco jumped out to an early lead with a field goal on its first possession, and after Dak Prescott was intercepted on a deep ball intended for KaVontae Turpin on Dallas' ensuing drive, it looked like this game might play out exactly as so many recent games between these two teams have.
Instead, the Niners quickly punted after the pick, and the Cowboys put together their best drive of the game -- one that saw Prescott convert multiple third downs and then Ezekiel Elliott plow into the end zone from 1 yard out. The Niners turned it over on downs on their following drive, and the Cowboys extended their lead with a field goal.
San Francisco then quickly marched into Dallas territory with a few Isaac Guerendo runs, but a holding penalty set their drive back and the Niners ultimately had to settle for another kick from Anders Carlson to cut into -- but not erase -- Dallas' lead.
After a quick three-and-out by Dallas, the Niners nearly took advantage of the little time they had remaining in the half, only to stall out just over midfield. They once again quickly moved into Dallas territory after the Cowboys left the middle of the field uncovered not once but twice, resulting in a first-down scramble by Brock Purdy and then a 30-yard catch-and-run by George Kittle. But Purdy fumbled while trying to pump-fake a throw, and the drive ended without any points on the board.
Can the shorthanded Cowboys pull off a road upset, or will the Niners reassert themselves after halftime? We'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, keep it locked to our live blog throughout the rest of the night as we update you with stats, scores and highlights.
Date: Sunday, Oct. 27 | Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, California)
Channel: NBC | Stream: fubo (try for free)
Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds: 49ers -5.5; O/U 48.5 (via Caesars)
DeMarvion Overshown was absolutely shot out of a cannon on that second-down sack. The 49ers finally paid a price for being down to their fourth-string running back, as Isaac Guerendo totally whiffed on the block. The ensuing third down came up short and the Cowboys will get the ball back.
Deebo Samuel is QUESTIONABLE to return, per the broadcast.
Right after the message about CeeDee making things interesting, he hits the end zone again, cutting the lead down to one score for the first time since early in the second half. He was just as wide open on this touchdown as the previous one, with two Niners defenders running into each other. He's now at 13 catches for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns, and looks a lot like 2023 CeeDee Lamb.
CeeDee Lamb seems like he, at least, is determined to make this interesting.
In only his second game since returning from injured reserve after being shot in the chest prior to the start of the season, the 49ers' first-round pick made the best play of his young career with a 39-yard scamper on this jet sweep around the left edge. Led to another field goal to push San Francisco's lead back to 13 points.
Now that it's approaching garbage time, the Cowboys finally got something going offensively. Granted, they needed the drive to be extended by a questionable pass interference call that erased a failed third down, but then Dak connected with Jake Ferguson, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Tolbert and finally CeeDee Lamb to get his team into the end zone. Lamb wound up wide the heck open for the score. (Dallas is down by 10, but given the way this game has done, it still feels out of reach.)
After Dallas' latest point, the 49ers quickly went three-and-out. But the Cowboys almost came away with a massive interception after Purdy tried to buy time while rolling to the right and then throw downfield, only to have the pass deflected by Trevon Diggs. The ball bounced up into the air and nearly fell into the arms of Chauncey Golston, but the big defensive lineman couldn't handle the spin and come away with the pick. Instead, San Francisco was able to punt.
After a Deebo Samuel run to the 2-yard line that resulted in an injury to Dallas cornerback Amari Oruwariye and necessitated a commercial break, San Francisco came back and ran one of the longest QB sneaks you'll ever see. After review, they upheld Brock Purdy's rushing touchdown that extended the San Francisco lead to 27-10 near the end of the third quarter.
George Kittle is absolutely smoking these Cowboys linebackers. He's up to 6 catches for 128 yards and there is no end to his dominance in sight. This latest 27-yard grab was the 500th of his career. He's the 20th tight end in history to reach that mark. He's also the fifth player to catch 500 passes with the 49ers.
After the Kittle touchdown, the Cowboys quickly went three-and-out. Up 10-6 heading into the break, Dallas now trails by double digits and could be down three scores by the end of this next Niners drive. San Francisco can pretty much put this one on ice with a touchdown here.
The Niners got away with a pick play at the goal line, with Chris Conley causing two Cowboys defenders to run into each other and leave Kittle wide open in the front of the end zone. The officials threw a flag at first but later picked it up, and Terry McAulay said in the broadcast that they made the right call.
What an absolutely beautiful play by Deommodore Lenoir. And what a disastrous throw -- again -- from Dak Prescott. A sprint left with only two available receivers is an extremely questionable play call on third down, but Dak then just flipped the ball up in the air in the hopes that it would either drop into CeeDee Lamb's arms or else fall out of bounds. That bet did not work out for him.
Dallas gave up a huge catch-and-run to George Kittle toward the end of the first half, but the Niners' drive stalled out thanks to a fumble on a Brock Purdy pump fake. Well, Kittle did it again here. He caught a pass over the middle and just absolutely took off up the left sideline, and then Guerendo took advantage by plowing into the end zone on the next snap. Niners re-take the lead on the rookie RB's first career score.
Jordan Mason is back on the Niners' sideline but Guerendo is in the game. We saw something similar earlier this season when Mason left with an injury, came back, left again and then didn't return.
Isaac Guerendo moved the 49ers down the field quickly on that four-minute drive, but a holding penalty and a drop ended up cutting things short. San Francisco settled for Anders Carlson's second field goal of the game to cut into Dallas' lead.
49ers RB Jordan Mason is headed to the locker room after being looked at earlier in the game, according to reporters on scene. Isaac Guerendo is filling in. The Niners said he is questionable to return to the game.
After the failed fourth-down attempt, Dallas moved down into the red zone for the second time tonight, this time courtesy of a scramble-drill throw from Dak to Jalen Tolbert to pick up a big gain. But the Cowboys then stalled out, with Dak throwing incomplete for Brevyn Spann-Ford in the back of the end zone and then Jake Ferguson nearly fumbling the ball away on third down. Dallas settled for a Brandon Aubrey field goal and a 10-3 advantage. (Aubrey, by the way, missed Cowboys practices this week because he was serving jury duty.)
Deebo was open again on fourth-and-short just over midfield, but Purdy threw the ball behind him and Deebo couldn't haul it in. Pretty big missed opportunity for San Francisco and now the Cowboys have a chance to extend their surprising lead to two scores.
The Niners got Deebo Samuel wide open down the field for the second time tonight and Brock Purdy hit him right in stride for the second time tonight. Deebo took it 66 yards to the house... but the touchdown was nullified by a holding penalty on No. 2 tight end Eric Saubert.
Best drive of the night for the Cowboys. After a nice punt return Turpin, Dallas marched 65 yards on 11 plays, with Dak converting a pair of third downs along the way. After a pass interference penalty in the end zone got Dallas down to the goal line, Zeke punched it in from a yard out to put the Cowboys up 7-3. (Earlier in the drive, he also had his longest run of the season, albeit for only 11 yards.)
The 49ers picked up a first down on a tough completion from Brock Purdy to George Kittle, but on the next set of downs, Purdy missed a much easier throw intended for Kittle and San Francisco punted. The Niners did not take advantage of the Prescott interception.
The Cowboys have been getting owned by this 49ers defense for years now, and here we go again. Dak Prescott got absolutely walloped by Nick Bosa as he let go of a deep ball down the left sideline -- a ball that he never should have thrown in the first place. Throwing into double coverage to target 5-foot-9 KaVontae Turpin is not a good idea. Ji'Ayir Brown made him pay with the interception.
San Francisco got the ball into Cowboys territory, but a holding penalty on Kyle Juszczyk set the drive back. Kyle Shanahan surprisingly called for a run up the middle on third-and-10 and Jordan Mason was stopped short of the line to gain, so the Niners settled for a 50-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
What do you know, the 49ers got Deebo Samuel matched up on a linebacker on third down and Deebo absolutely smoked him. The 49ers just consistently do this to the Cowboys, year after year.
Dallas apparently came out determined to run the ball in this game. After a good run by Zeke Elliott on the first snap of the game, things did not go well on the ground from there. In particular, a third-and-5 handoff to fullback Hunter Luepke quickly ended in disaster as Fred Warner smothered it and forced a punt.
Here are a few key matchups that could decide this game:
Dallas is 3-0 on the road and 0-3 at home to start the 2024 season, making them the first team to start 3-0 on the road and 0-3 at home since the 2021 New England Patriots. The Cowboys will look to continue their road game success in Week 8 at the San Francisco 49ers.
Cowboys This Season
Home Road
W-L 0-3 3-0
Opp PPG 39.7 16.3
Opp YPG 460.0 253.0
TO margin -7 +1
>> 1st team to start 0-3 at home & 3-0 on road since 2021 Patriots)
The Dallas Cowboys go as quarterback Dak Prescott goes, and it's been rough for Prescott during Dallas' three-game losing streak against the 49ers.
Dak Prescott Last 3 Games vs 49ers
TD-INT Passer Rating
2021 Wild Card 1-1 69.3
2022 Div Rd 1-2 63.6
2023 Week 5 1-3 << 51.6
>> T-most INT in a game in career
The San Francisco 49ers have a three-game winning streak against the Dallas Cowboys for the first time since the 1994-1995 seasons. Their current streak involves two playoff wins and a beatdown of the Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 5 last season.
Last 3 Meetings
Result
2021 Wild Card SF, 23-17
2022 Div Rd SF, 19-12
2023 Week 5 SF, 42-10 <<
>> 49ers largest win vs Cowboys in series history (+32)
Should Dallas be able to slow down Mason on the ground, they might have a chance to handle 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who produced the worst passer rating of his career in a start including playoffs, 36.7, after throwing three interceptions and no touchdowns as well as 212 yards on 17 of 31 passing in a Week 7 loss against the Chiefs. The big driver in his struggles was the lack of Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings on the field. He threw more passes with Samuel, Aiyuk and Jennings all off the field in Week 7, 17, than he did in his first 37 career games combined, including the playoffs, per CBS Sports Research. Samuel is officially active tonight, but Aiyuk is out for the season with a knee injury. Jennings was ruled out for Week 8 with a hip injury.
