SANTA CLARA — The 49ers’ game Sunday night seemed to be a perfect reflection of their 2024 NFL season up to this point.
The 49ers had their moments. And there were times when they were simply bad.
But they were good enough long enough to escape with a 30-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium to pull their record to 4-4 on the season.
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Now, they head into the bye week with nine games remaining in the regular season and all their goals for the season still in play.
“Getting a win tonight was huge,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said. “It gives you confidence. There are a lot of things we’ll try to clean up, but I think we’re taking steps in the right direction.”
Here is the 49ers’ report card from their Week 8 win over the Cowboys:
Rushing Offense
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers spread it around in the running game with seven different players gaining a total of 223 yards against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL.
Rookie Isaac Guerendo took over for Jordan Mason, who left the game with a shoulder injury. Guerendo gained 85 yards and a touchdown on 14 rushing attempts. He put the game away with a 14-yard run on a third-and-2 play and wisely slid down at the 3-yard line.
Guerendo leads the league sacrificing TDs to seal wins 😤 pic.twitter.com/LMaJwWwvLM
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 28, 2024
Quarterback Brock Purdy made plays with his legs, too. He gained 56 yards and a touchdown on eight rushing attempts, including a kneel down to run out the clock.
Red Brocktober 😏
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 28, 2024
pic.twitter.com/ULM1JF4OuL
Even rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall got into the action with a 39-yard gain on a jet-sweep play. The 49ers averaged 6.2 yards per carry on 36 rushing attempts.
Grade: A
Passing Offense
It was a big bounce-back game for Purdy, who had a solid showing just one week after the worst statistical game of his NFL career.
Purdy completed 18 of 26 pass attempts for 260 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions and a passer rating of 114.3.
Kittle had a big game, as he caught six passes for 128 yards and a touchdown on National Tight Ends Day — a quasi-holiday he helped create.
Who else but the People’s Tight End 😤
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 28, 2024
pic.twitter.com/rPyFDBjPUR
Deebo Samuel put together a solid game with four receptions for 71 yards. He had a 66-yard touchdown pass wiped out in the first half on tight end Eric Saubert’s holding penalty.
The 49ers converted eight of their 16 third-down opportunities.
Grade: B-plus
Rushing Defense
The 49ers put the clamps on the Cowboys’ rushing attack, which entered the night with a league-low average of 77 yards rushing per game. Dallas managed only 56 yards on 19 rushing attempts.
Ezekiel Elliott was the Cowboys’ leading rusher with 34 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries.
Linebacker Fred Warner led the 49ers with eight tackles, including one for a loss. De’Vondre Campbell had one of his better games with seven tackles.
Grade: A
Passing Defense
A couple of busted coverages late in the game provided the Cowboys with an opportunity to make a comeback, with CeeDee Lamb catching 13 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
Before that, the 49ers’ pass defense did a number on Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense. Nick Bosa got pressure on Prescott that forced an interception from safety Ji’Ayir Brown in the first half.
Pick City 😤
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 28, 2024
pic.twitter.com/HjffZURQXy
Deommodore Lenoir picked off Prescott in the third quarter. Prescott had a passer rating of just 79.2, as he completed 25 of 38 passes for 243 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Bosa and Sam Okuayinonu registered sacks, and both players had three quarterback hits apiece.
Grade: B
Special Teams
In a season filled with one blunder on special teams after another, the 49ers played a fairly clean game.
The 49ers’ coverage units limited return man KaVontae Turpin on punt returns and kickoffs. Turpin had just one punt return for 13 yards, and he averaged just 23.0 yards on five kickoff returns.
Rookie Jacob Cowing averaged a respectable 11.0 yards on two punt returns, and Patrick Taylor averaged 29.5 yards on two kickoff returns.
Kicker Anders Carlson was 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts, making his kicks from 50, 44 and 41 yards. The only mistake was a kickoff out of bounds, which gave the Cowboys possession at the 40-yard line.
Grade: B
Coaching
After a lackluster first half, the 49ers turned it around in the third quarter to outscore Dallas 21-0 to take complete control.
But, then, the 49ers let the Cowboys get right back in it. Early in the fourth quarter, the 49ers were stuffed on second-and-1. On third-and-1, coach Kyle Shanahan chose not to run the ball and Purdy’s pass was incomplete.
The pass defense had some letdowns with busted coverages in the fourth quarter to allow the Cowboys to get back in it.
The 49ers were good enough to win, but they were anything but a crisp unit from start to finish.
Grade: C-plus
Overall
The 49ers were good enough in the third quarter to overcome a slow start and a near-disastrous fourth quarter.
That can work against a flawed team such as the Cowboys, but it’s simply not good enough if this team has any hope of making a run in the second half of the season.
The 49ers have been down this road before with similar-looking losses earlier in the season against the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals. They got away with an up-and-down showing against Dallas.
Grade: B-minus