The San Francisco 49ers steamrolled past the Dallas Cowboys, scoring a season-high 42 points in a 42-10 victory to improve to 5-0 on the season.
Offensively, the 49ers started strong with a touchdown drive and overcame a Christian McCaffrey fumble in the redzone, leading by at least two scores for the majority of the game.
Defensively, the 49ers were stout, forcing four turnovers and giving up just 10 points, as the Cowboys were limited to just 197 total yards in the loss.
Here are three quick takeaways from the 49ers 42-10 victory over the Cowboys.
No. 1 in the NFC
The 49ers are legit. There’s no way around it after a dominant win over a team that some proclaimed as the NFC’s best in the preseason.
After four comfortable victories, the 49ers faced their toughest opponent of the year and had their best outcome, scoring 42 points on Dallas’s No. 1 offense, while looking in control for the entirety of the game.
Coming into the game, I proclaimed that this game wouldn’t be that close due to Dallas’s offense, but in no way did I expect the blowout that occurred on Sunday.
Through five weeks, the 49ers are the clear-cut No. 1 team in the NFC, and potentially even the NFL.
There’s just one other undefeated team in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the 49ers have been dominant on both sides in each of their five outings, which can’t be said about their newfound rivals.
At this point, I don’t know what team is going to stop the 49ers, given how well-rounded they are in all forms of the game.
Brock Purdy’s ascension
Last weekend, Brock Purdy had the best game of his career, completing 20/21 passes for 283 yards, which was the highest completion percentage in a single outing in franchise history.
It was a statement game for Purdy, who has performed well to begin the 2023 season, but has consistently been denounced by conversations about the 49ers’ scheme, Kyle Shanahan, and the team’s skill position players.
Well, Purdy just played against the No. 1 defense statistically, and had yet another solid game with 17/24 passing for 252 yards and four touchdowns, with three going the way of tight end George Kittle.
Now, Purdy had a little bit of a slow start against Dallas’s staunch pass rush with a few throws behind receivers, but the quarterback settled in and delivered an impressive overall performance against a tough opponent, further cementing himself as an emerging signal-caller in the NFL.
Purdy continues to make good decisions, moving defenders well with his eyes, while showcasing an elite understanding of Kyle Shanahan’s offense, leading to high-level performances on a weekly basis.
The biggest question coming into the season was whether Purdy could deliver against better opponents.
He just saw his first test of the season on primetime and it’s safe to say he passed with flying colors.
RB2?
The 49ers entered the game without Elijah Mitchell for the second consecutive week, which led many, including myself, to infer a heavier workload for star Christian McCaffrey out of the backfield.
However, while McCaffrey earned 22 touches on the day, it wasn’t as big of a workload since the 49ers went up big early, allowing the team to defer to Jordan Mason and Tyrion Davis-Price for most of the second half.
Now, Mason saw a majority of his carries in garbage time, but it was intriguing to see the backup running back see some early carries, as the second-year player saw two first-quarter and two second-quarter carries against the Cowboys.
It’s not necessarily a high amount of volume, but it’s a sign of confidence, as well as a good opportunity given the score, for Mason, who hasn’t seen the field much this season.
A big portion of why the 49ers like Mitchell so much is his ability to hold onto the football, but Mason could make an argument for more carries after another game of running hard with good vision.
Is there a battle in our hands for the RB2 role?
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