It’s difficult to glean anything positive following a loss like the Cowboys suffered Sunday night in Santa Clara. The 49ers, Dallas’ boogieman for going on three seasons, once again established the hierarchy in the NFC, beating the Cowboys 42-10.
Now probably isn’t the time for positive takeaways anyway. Moments such as these are meant to humble. It’s the only way to accept what’s really wrong and set a plan to fix it. Besides, being on the business end of a 40-burger is supposed to induce some soul-searching.
It takes a team effort to lose that magnificently. It required offensive ineptitude, defensive turbulence and immaturity, and sadly key injuries to special teams.
One play wasn’t the issue. One player wasn’t the reason. The issues were bigger than that. But amidst the pain of the loss some valuable lessons were learned. And if acted on, the Cowboys could actually grow from such a painful event.