49ers vs Cowboys recap: What part was the worst?

Normally after a San Francisco 49ers game, we post a winners and losers type of column. After the team was man handled by the Cowboys, it was difficult to find winners so we will just be going with the opposite for week 7. Even head coach Kyle Shanahan said in his post game presser that there were no positives to take from the game prior to studying the film.

Starting out with a bang

The phase of the game that had been the one consistent performer has gone into a slump. The 49ers special teams started out with a fumbled kickoff return by Trent Taylor. Three plays later the Cowboys had another 6 points on the board.

C.J. Beathard’s initiation by fire

Some of it had to do with injuries on the offensive line, some of it was holding on to the ball too long. Beathard was sacked by the Cowboys five times for 48 yards. It wasn't always the offensive line’s fault. One sack in particular was missed blocks by Garrett Celek and Carlos Hyde.

The run defense

The defense as a whole gave up 501 yards, 265 of it was on the ground. The team had been priding themselves on being better than last season where the run defense was nonexistent. The departure of NaVorro Bowman had an impact on the run stop to a certain extent. I think they still would have lost, but maybe somewhere around 165 yards of rushing, instead of 265.

The personnel shift

Eric Reid spent his first game filling in at linebacker. While the philosophy of getting your best 11 on the field is understandable, maybe you don’t want to try it out going against some of the best offensive weapons in the league.

Injuries abound

Trent Brown is in the concussion protocol. Reuben Foster, who just returned from injury has a rib injury. Rashard Robinson went in and out of the game with an abdominal injury. Brandon Fusco left the game for a little while with an undisclosed injury. Part of having a winning season is being lucky enough to avoid the injury bug. It seems that is not he case for the 49ers.