A 42-10 shellacking at the hands of the 49ers in Week 5 provided a rallying cry for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who entered that game with an expectation that he and his team would exact revenge after being bounced from the playoffs in consecutive seasons by San Francisco.
In his weekly Football Morning In America column, NBC Sports' Peter King revealed Dallas' third consecutive defeat to San Francisco shellshocked Prescott and the Cowboys, with the embarrassment on the national stage serving as a necessary wake-up call for a team that has since catapulted into the No.2 seed in the NFC.
"I went into that game thinking that I was gonna have a huge game," Prescott told King. "They beat us the last two playoff games that were close, and this time I really thought we'd kick their ass. The exact opposite happened. What bothered me more than anything was the lack of fight that we showed as a team, honestly. Me and Mike [McCarthy] talked about it. Pissed us off more than anything. After that game, I said if we lose another game, I promise you it won't look like this. I promise you we won't allow a team to bully us or knock us around."
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Since being throttled by the 49ers in Week 5, Dallas has gone on to win seven of their last eight games, with six of those victories coming by double-digits. The Cowboys' high-octane offense has hit another gear since being stifled in Santa Clara, averaging 35.8 points per game since the 49ers' stout defense limited them to 10 points in Week 5. Prescott shared that the team's entire demeanor shifted after being blown out by San Francisco, with Dallas taking the lead in the NFC East following a statement win over the Philadelphia Eagles on "Sunday Night Football."
"Since that 49er game, we've come out with a different demeanor and mindset every game. We fight," Prescott said.
Immediately following the Week 5 loss to the 49ers, Cowboys star edge rusher Micah Parsons confidently voiced that Dallas was still in the same tier as San Francisco despite the game's lopsided score.
“I don’t think they’re really a higher level than us,” star pass rusher Micah Parsons told reporters in the locker room after the game. “I think we’re the same caliber playoff team. Same talent, same standards as them. I just feel like we need to really reconsider some things, get together and fix some things.
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The 49ers (10-3) and Cowboys (10-3) currently hold the top two seeds in the NFC playoff picture, and if recent history is any indication, you can expect an epic clash between these two teams in January.
Prescott and the Cowboys hope their newfound swagger can spark a victory over a 49ers team that has flat-out had their number over the last three seasons.