Tag: Dallas Cowboys vs San Francisco 49ers

Cowboys WR Kavontae Turpin ruled out of game with ankle injury

The Cowboys WR will miss the rest of the game after scoring the club’s first TD.

The lone wideout to have an impact in the first half will not be available for the Dallas Cowboys in the second half. Second-year pro Kavontae Turpin scored Dallas’ lone points in the first half, catching a pass from Dak Prescott for 26 yards to close the gap. However later in the second quarter, Turpin had his ankle landed on out of bounds.

Melissa Stark of NBC Sports reported on the broadcast that he would not return. This is a double blow for Dallas as Turpin is the team’s returner on both punts and kickoffs. Also reported was that special teams ace CJ Goodwin suffered a shoulder injury and his return is questionable.

WATCH: Cowboys’ offense finally gets on the board with Prescott-Turpin connection

The Cowboys got on the scoreboard but the momentum was short lived.

Things have not been going well for the Dallas Cowboys in their trip to the San Francisco Bay. After allowing a touchdown on the game’s opening possession, the teams traded fumbles deep in Dallas territory and eventually the 49ers used the short field for a second score and a 14-0 lead.

Finally, Dallas’ offense awoke. On the subsequent drive, the Cowboys finally got a first down and decided they might as well keep going down the field. Eventually they worked their way down to the SF 26-yard line and that’s when quarterback Dak Prescott found WR Kavontae Turpin streaking down the right side for the score.

The emotion would be shortlived however as the penalty prone defense allowed the 49ers to answer right back and drive the field for another touhdown.

Dallas trails 21-7 with a little more than two minutes remaining in the first half.

Cowboys-49ers inactives: Dallas OL in full force for primetime duel

The Cowboys’ intended starting offensive line is active for the first time since 2021. | From @CdBurnett7

The Dallas Cowboys haven’t fielded their starting offensive line since 2021. That changes on Sunday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers. After holding injury designations early in the week, All-Pro offensive linemen Zack Martin and Tyron Smith were full participants Thursday and Friday. Now, they’re set to take on a vaunted 49ers front.

Tight end Peyton Hendershot is still nursing an ankle injury, and he’s out again for the Dallas offense. Beyond his absence, the Cowboys are as healthy as possible in a game that feels massive so early in the season.

San Francisco is without backup running back Elijah Mitchell, but the 49ers are otherwise 100% against Dallas. Former Cowboy defensive end Randy Gregory is inactive after being traded to the 49ers during the week. It’s a heavyweight matchup in Levi’s Stadium, and here’s a full look at the inactives ahead of Cowboys-49ers, kicking off at 7:20 p.m.

Cowboys-49ers staff picks and headline predictions for Week 5: What will they say?

A look at how Cowboys and Niners Wire’s staff see the contest, with each contributor volunteering a final score and a post-game headline prediction.

The Dallas Cowboys have been waiting nine months for this opportunity. While the players and possibly the coaching staff might not have known, the rematch of the 2022 season’s divisional game was destined to happen. Thanks to the three-year rotation of intra-conference schedules, the Cowboys were going to head to the Bay no matter what.

But that doesn’t take away from the relevance of the matchup. Dallas needs this game. A loss drops them essentially three games behind the 49ers in the race for home-field advantage in the NFC. The Cowboys would need to finish ahead of San Francisco in the standings to avoid a potential road playoff matchup, so even though it’s Week 5 this is important. How confident are we they can pull off the upset.

The staff of Cowboys Wire got together and looked to predict the final score and the storyline that will be the narrative after it’s over. With a guest appearance from Niners Wire’s managing editor Kyle Madson, here’s how we think it will unfold.

Here’s why Cowboys fans should be optimistic about Brandin Cooks’ future

Cooks is off to a slow start with the Cowboys but it’s all perfectly explainable, offering reason for optimism going forward. | From @ReidDHanson

When the Cowboys first added Brandin Cooks in a March trade with the Texans, the Dallas fanbase was abuzz with excitement. Finally, they had their deep threat, their true complementary option next to CeeDee Lamb, their veteran presence and field stretcher.

Despite the instant chemistry and constant praises from training camp, things have not gotten off great start for the Cowboys and Cooks in 2023.

Entering Week 5, Cooks has just 66 receiving yards to his name. He had more yards in the first game of his rookie year (77 yards) than he has right now.

It’s by far the lowest total he’s carried into the fifth week of an NFL season and a sign the Cowboys may have overestimated the 30-year-old’s impact in this offense.

Yet, underwhelming numbers can at least partially be blamed on his absence in Week 2. But even his per-game numbers are off pace. In the three games he’s played, he’s averaged just 2.7 receptions, which puts him on pace for a little over 43 receptions for 352 yards this season (both career lows).

One could also point to the expected growing pains of just playing on a new team.

Yet, Cooks has made a career as an efficient nomad, able to pick up and settle with extraordinary efficiency four times previous to his stop in Dallas. Neither excuse seems to work.

Cause for concern?

While this situation is probably something that deserves watching, there’s reason for optimism going forward.

Cooks hasn’t been playing poorly this season. His speed, route running, and feel for zones has been as good as always in Dallas. Defenses are respecting him and dedicating resources to keep him from getting over the top. It’s opened up opportunities for others on offense and been a valuable layer to Mike McCarthy’s attack.

While the stat sheet won’t show it, Cooks is making a difference on this team in a way an average WR would not.

Circumstances also play a role. The Cowboys have been on the sunny side of three blowouts this season. This has a clear impact on the number of shots the Cowboys take downfield which understandably impact Cooks’ receiving targets.

At 46.1%, the Cowboys are currently ranked 28th in early down pass rate this season. It’s a number abnormal for the Cowboys and a McCarthy-led offense so it’s a number that’s likely to change as the season wears on.

In other words, there hasn’t been many passes in Dallas this season and since defenses have placed a lot of their attention on Cooks and his game-breaking speed, there haven’t been many balls going Cooks’ way.

His receiving drought isn’t likely to last. The Cowboys will have their work cut out for them in upcoming weeks and will need to keep the pedal down on offense as the level of competition increases.

Cooks may be in his 11th season but he’s not showing it. He’s still playing extremely well and it’s only a matter of time before that shows up on the stat sheet.

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55-man roster, Week 5 elevations reveal Cowboys moves at LB, TE

A look at the Cowboys’ roster they’ll choose from for the Week 5 battle against the San Francisco 49ers. | From @KDDrummondNFL

While so much has changed surrounding the health status of the Dallas Cowboys’ roster over the past week, it isn’t being reflected in their roster decisions for their Week 5 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. Dallas will finally have their full compliment of offensive linemen, but despite still being short-handed against the New England Patriots the club didn’t elevate any OL to the active roster last week. Instead they worried about their tight end and linebacker depth.

It’s funny, as entering the season those were the three biggest depth-related question marks and they’ve been the story of the injury report throughout the first quarter of the season. Low and behold, in Week 5 the club is once again elevating a linebacker and a tight end to give them some extra warm bodies for this crucial matchup on Sunday Night Football. Here’s a rundown of the 53-man roster, and the two elevations.

Quarterbacks (3)
Running Backs (4)
Wideouts (6)
Tight Ends (4)
Offensive Tackles (3)
Offensive Guards (4)
Centers (2)

Defensive Ends (5)
Defensive Tackles (5)
Linebacker (4)
Cornerbacks (5)
Safeties (6)

Special Teams (4)

3 key matchups in Cowboys vs 49ers in Week 5 showdown

In the epic Week 5 clash between the Cowboys and 49ers, it will likely come down to the winner of these three key matchups. | From @ReidDHanson

In Week 5, the Cowboys travel to Santa Clara to take on the 49ers for what is possibly the game of the 2023 season. The early season matchup carries more gravity than most non-divisional games. It was San Francisco who ended the Cowboys’ postseason in the past two consecutive campaigns.

Dallas knows the road to the NFC championship runs through San Francisco. They are atop most power ranking and have been a virtual boogieman to the Cowboys. Both teams know each other well and with many carryover players and coaches facing off again in Week 5, it will be more than a grudge match but also a chess match.

The blueprint for the 49ers defense is clear: They want to slow down opposing offenses to a crawl and make them grind out drives.

The blueprint for the Cowboys offense is also clear: They want to methodically move down the field and grind out drives.

It’s strength against strength and the winner of the game will likely come down to who best handles a few key matchups. We look at three of those key matchups today.

Here’s how the Cowboys can finally defeat the 49ers

Can the Cowboys get the 49ers monkey off their back, or will it turn into King Kong with a third straight loss? | From @cdpiglet

The first four weeks may matter in the record books, but for most Dallas Cowboys fans, the Week 5 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers is the true beginning of this season. Losing the opportunity of a face-off with Aaron Rodgers in Week 2 allowed Dallas and its fanbase to sleepwalk to a 3-1 record without a circled-on-the-schedule game. Dallas made three of their four contests non-competitive, failing to show up in the fourth, a blowout loss to Arizona that was expected to be a blowout win.

Now, they’ll go against the team that bullied and eliminated the Cowboys in the last two playoffs, and it brings a fire to the entire organization and fanbase.

The players have already talked about how this game is different. Pundits and analysts have discussed how Dallas needs this game for their mental health. Fans need this win for trust purposes in future matchups with top teams.

This is a dogfight of two of the top three teams in the NFC. It is going to be a battle for four quarters, or more, but how do the Cowboys finally defeat their nemesis, and what could cause them to fall in defeat once again?

A deeper look shows Cowboys’ red zone issues might be overblown

The Cowboys are near the bottom of the league in red zone efficiency but many of their issues will likely correct themselves in coming weeks, says @ReidDHanson.

The Cowboys have a red zone problem. Filed under “well, duuuh” in the self-help section of the local library, it’s an issue that everyone seems to be aware of, but nobody knows how to fix. One thing everyone seems to agree on is given the schedule ahead, it’s an issue that needs to be corrected immediately or the Cowboys will never clear the hurdle they’ve been tripping over the past two years.

Their current red zone rate of 36.84% ranks them 30th in the league. It’s a far cry from the league-leading 71.43% they boasted under Kellen Moore in 2022 and an early indictment of Mike McCarthy’s play-calling early into his tenure.

Dallas made a concentrated effort to correct their red zone issues in Week 4 against the hapless Patriots, but instead of climbing out of the hole, they fell further in, going just 1-of-4 in the red zone.

No one will deny the red zone is an issue at this point, but there’s reasons to believe the issues are overblown when a deeper analysis is made.

Randy Gregory traded to 49ers; will not suit up vs Cowboys this week

From @ToddBrock24f7: After announcing they would release him, Denver traded the former Cowboy to the 49ers, but Gregory will not play in this week’s showdown.

Add yet another strange twist to the saga of Randy Gregory, and this time, it will include a near-miss with his former Cowboys teammates.

The 30-year-old defensive end was traded to the San Francisco 49ers late Friday afternoon, a surprising development given the Denver Broncos’ announcement just two days prior that they would be releasing the onetime second-round draft pick in favor of a youth movement under new head coach Sean Payton and first-year defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.

But the Broncos never formally released Gregory, and will now send him and a 2024 seventh-round draft pick to San Francisco in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in next spring’s draft.

The news initially set the stage for Gregory to possibly face the Cowboys, the team that originally drafted him out of Nebraska in 2015 and held his rights throughout the first seven seasons of his sometimes-troubled pro career.

Gregory was quickly declared eligible to play in the Week 5 clash, the most eagerly-anticipated game of the young season and an NFC showdown already brimming with rich subplots.

The Cowboys had planned to re-sign Gregory last March and even announced having done so, but a heated dispute over language in the contract led Gregory to change his mind and sign an identical deal with Denver.

But now he leaves another organization with eleventh-hour drama following him on his way out the door.

Shortly after news of the Broncos-49ers trade broke, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones was asked about the possibility of facing their former standout on the field this Sunday night.

“Who knows?” Jones told 105.3 The Fan. “Nothing ever surprises you when it comes to the NFL. It’ll be interesting to see if he tries to suit up.”

But according to David Lombardi of The Athletic, Gregory will not play- or even be on the sideline- when his former squad comes to town. After passing a physical for the 49ers, Gregory was scheduled to fly back to Denver to finalize his move to the Bay Area, where he will join his new team next week.

Despite the short-lived panic over the Niners adding more star power to their dominant defense, it is worth noting that the Broncos were set to unceremoniously release Gregory- at his own request- just 10 game appearances into a 5-year, $70 million contract.

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Gregory had logged nine tackles and one sack thus far in 2023 for the Broncos.

He’ll get roughly $10 million from the Broncos for the remainder of the season; San Francisco will pay him the league minimum.

To make room for Gregory on their roster, the 49ers are planning to release defensive lineman Kerry Hyder Jr., another former Cowboy.

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