Sometimes the medicine goes down easy. Hopefully, this isn’t one of those times. Cowboys Nation wakes up Monday morning absolutely dejected following the club’s performance in what they themselves billed as a statement game and measuring stick. The Cowboys traveled west of Dallas for the second time this season and for the second time this season they were embarrassed by an NFC West opponent.
While their three wins were enough to dismiss the performance in Arizona as looking past a weak opponent, their showing (or lack thereof) in San Francisco crystalizes this picture. Dallas is not good enough. It’s feast or famine with this club. When things are going right; when the playing surface is fast and they create turnovers they look like the best team in the league. But twice now, the club has been hit in the mouth and they wilted into the corner.
The 42-10 loss was the biggest defeat of Mike McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas and the worse since a 2013 blowout loss at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. It’s going to take a lot for the fanbase to move past this defeat and the players and coaches would be wise not to sweep this under the rug.
And while the 49ers appear to be the cream of the crop in the early stages of the 2023 NFL season, this will hardly be the last time Dallas has to play a strong opponent. Rather, this was the beginning of a gauntlet where the Cowboys will face off with some of the league’s best, including the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and two contests against division rival Philadelphia.
Dallas needs to have the images of this pathetic performance etched into their memory, seared into their consciousness. So here’s the proof it happened how it happened.