Niners Nation
Leads aren’t safe for the 49ers, but the elite version of this team showed its face on Sunday
The San Francisco 49ers have reached their long-awaited bye week and welcomed the week off in the best way possible: with a 30-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
With the win, San Francisco moved to 4-4 and entered the bye week with much-needed momentum. But depending on whether you are a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty person, the 49ers could be 2-6 right now or 6-2.
The win on Sunday night could be seen as an example of a glass half empty or half full. San Francisco’s lackluster first half was followed by its best quarter of football this season before holding onto dear life to finish the victory.
Depending on if you are an optimist or a pessimist, what you learned from the 49ers in Week 8 might vary:
The great 49ers we’ve come to expect are in there somewhere
The best word to describe the 49ers’ first half of the season is shaky. There have been some ups and downs, which have led San Francisco to its current 4-4 record. However, through the season's first seven and a half games, we’ve been waiting for the elite 49ers to appear.
And for just 15 minutes on Sunday night, the elite 49ers made its 2024 debut.
The 49ers’ first half was sloppy. Penalties, missed passes, and missed opportunities saw the Niners trail 10-6 at halftime. It was the second week in a row the 49ers had entered the half with just six points. In Week 7 against the Chiefs, San Francisco only scored 12 points in the second half following a six-point first half, leading to the 28-18 loss.
On Sunday night, the 49ers scored 21 points and held Dallas to zero in the third quarter alone, easily the best 15-minute stretch of Niners football this season.
San Francisco started the third quarter with possession, trailing by four, but wasted no time wiping the lead away. The 49ers scored in just over two minutes – aided by a George Kittle 43-yard catch-and-run – to snatch the lead away from Dallas. Carrying the momentum from the offense, Deommodore Lenoir would intercept a Dak Prescott pass attempt to Ceedee Lamb on the ensuing drive to get the San Francisco offense back on the field.
Purdy and the 49ers’ offense capitalized on the field position, taking seven plays to find the end zone again and extend the lead to ten. Again, the defense would make a stop – this time forcing a three-and-out – to get the hot 49ers offense out on the field just a minute of game time after its second score of the quarter. The offense would again push the ball downfield, going 75 yards with the help of a Purdy 16-yard scramble, a 27-yard reception from Kittle, and a 16-yard catch from Deebo Samuel to finish off the trifecta of touchdowns in the third.
The first half suggested the 49ers’ poor play...
