Though not fully reminiscent of the rivalry’s heyday in the mid-1990s — when the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys played each other in three straight NFC championship games from 1992 to 1994 and one of them won the Super Bowl every year — the 49ers and the Cowboys have been three of the best teams in the conference for most of this decade.
Both franchises have made the playoffs in three straight seasons, with Dallas winning 12 games each from 2021 to 2024. In the same period, San Francisco has won 35 games in the regular season and made the NFC championship game every year — including an appearance in the Super Bowl last season.
Last year, the 49ers were the top seed in the NFC, while the Cowboys finished second. The ultimate success, a championship, hasn’t been there, but the consistency from both teams has been an accomplishment in its own right.
Until now.
Entering their Week 8 showdown on “Sunday Night Football,” Dallas and San Francisco have been two of the more disappointing teams in the NFL. The Cowboys are 3-3, and their three losses — all at home — have come by an average of 22 points. The 49ers are 3-4 and in third place in the NFC West.
If the playoffs started today, neither team would qualify for the first time since 2020. So what’s gone wrong?
Injuries have been a major factor for both teams.
San Francisco has been without star running back Christian McCaffrey all season because of an Achilles issue. The team is also missing linebacker Dre Greenlaw after he tore an Achilles in the Super Bowl and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who is out for the season.
That is in addition to injuries to important pieces like left tackle Trent Williams, receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle, the latter two who’ve had to miss games. (Samuel, for good measure, was hospitalized last week with pneumonia. And fellow receiver Brandon Aiyuk tore an ACL last game and is done for the season.)
Dallas has been hit particularly hard on the defensive side of the ball.
Star pass rusher Micah Parsons has missed multiple games, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is on injured reserve with a foot problem, linebacker Eric Kendricks missed a game, and cornerback DaRon Bland — who led the league in interceptions last season — hasn’t played yet this year.
Every team, of course, deals with injuries. But the 49ers and the Cowboys have taken hits in areas where they were previously dominant.
Without McCaffrey, San Francisco is still running the ball well. The red zone offense is functioning poorly, however. The Niners are 27th in red zone touchdown percentage after they finished first a season ago. And the rush defense has taken a step back with the injuries to the middle of the unit, sliding from third last season to 12th entering Week 8.
The added pressure hasn’t been good for quarterback Brock Purdy. After having thrown only 15 interceptions in his first 25 games, he has thrown seven in seven games this season. He is also posting career lows in completion percentage and passer rating.
Dallas’ defense has gone from strength to weakness, as new coordinator Mike Zimmer has been unable to recapture the magic of Dan Quinn, who is now head coach of the Washington Commanders.
The Cowboys were fifth in opponent yards per game last season and have fallen to 24th this season. They are especially bad stopping the run, with the sixth-worst average of rushing yards surrendered per game. As a result, their scoring defense has dropped precipitously from fifth to 31st.
Offensively, Dallas’ slide is more confounding, because the cast of characters is largely the same. But the Cowboys have gone from having the NFL’s top scoring offense a year ago to its 20th this season, averaging nearly nine points per game less.
Dallas owner and general manager Jerry Jones tried to offer an explanation for the offensive drop-off this week, basically blaming his head coach.
“We’re designing bad plays, or we’re designing bad concepts,” Jones said Tuesday on his weekly radio appearance on the team’s network. “The facts are that there’s some of that, but there’s also some execution [issues]. There’s some of the talent. I like our talent; I really do like our talent. I like our young talent, but young talent has a few more mistakes associated with it than if you’re dealing with a veteran player.”
(Jones, it should be noted, opted against signing veteran running back Derrick Henry in the offseason even though he lives in Dallas and said publicly he would have been interested in playing for the Cowboys. Henry leads the NFL in rushing yards, while Dallas has the worst rushing attack in the league.)
It’s still early enough in the season for either team to rebound and make the postseason. But for either the Niners or the Cowboys to reach the heights of their last three seasons would require a miraculous climb.
Then again, considering how all that regular season success hasn’t manifested into a championship yet, maybe this path will prove to be more fruitful for two franchises who can’t quite fully run the NFL like they used.
