It was supposed to be a tightly-contested clash of NFC superpowers, the most eagerly awaited game of the month-old 2023 season. It ended with the 49ers taking Dallas to the woodshed and sending them home with the worst and most humiliating Cowboys loss of the Mike McCarthy era.
The Cowboys were unequivocally dreadful in nearly every aspect of the 42-10 no-show. Dak Prescott & Co. didn’t move the chains until their fifth possession and had only one drive all night go longer than six plays and 39 yards. The supposedly elite defense, on the other hand, surrendered 25 first downs to the 49ers and let San Francisco hold the ball for over 37 minutes.
Narrowing the list of Cowboys “duds” down to just three names proved to be a Herculean task. Truth be told, there weren’t even three actual “studs” to be found, but for the sake of this weekly exercise, we’ve identified a few Dallas players who weren’t quite as awful as the rest of the imposters wearing blue and silver in Santa Clara on Sunday night.
Here are the studs (insert air quotes and big sarcastic eye roll here) and duds from Week 5’s whipping.
[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]