The San Francisco 49ers have the chance to progress to the NFC Championship Game for the third time in four seasons this Sunday and, should they succeed in snatching that opportunity, this postseason run will rank among the most satisfying playoff runs of recent memory for the storied franchise.
After a frustrating first half in their Wild Card round matchup with NFC West division rivals the Seattle Seahawks, the Niners pulled away in the second to surge into the Divisional Round with a 41-23 blowout victory.
Their reward is a reunion with the Dallas Cowboys, whom the 49ers beat on the road in the Wild Card round en route to last season’s NFC Championship Game in a nail-biting finish. San Francisco followed that win by knocking off another historic rival, the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round, and Niners fans would undoubtedly take similar levels of joy out of seeing their team back up an emphatic triumph over the hated Seahawks with another win over a franchise with whom they shared an era-defining rivalry.
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San Francisco and Dallas have faced off in the playoffs eight times in the playoffs, with six of those meetings coming in the NFC Championship Game. The 49ers and Cowboys battled for the conference title in three successive seasons in the early 1990s, Dallas winning the first two matchups in the 1992 and 93 seasons before the Niners triumphed in the 1994 campaign, which marked the last time they won the Super Bowl.
During that period, you would find few arguing the 49ers and Cowboys were not the two best teams in the NFL, and the Niners have a strong claim for that title this season having stretched their winning streak to 11 games by brushing aside Seattle.
The Cowboys figure to provide a sterner test after routing Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-14 in their Wild Card encounter on Monday, and they will likely approach a daunting trip to Levi’s Stadium full of confidence after an assured performance from Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, who threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns in a display that saw him complete over 75 percent of his passes at an average of 9.24 yards per attempt.
Dallas may well be encouraged by seeing the 49er defense give up a deep passing play on DK Metcalf’s 50-yard touchdown reception for the Seahawks in the second quarter of last Saturday’s clash, and in starting wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and supplementary pass-catching threats like Michael Gallup and Dalton Schultz, the Cowboys do possess weapons that could potentially hurt the best defense in the NFL.
But whether Prescott and his supporting cast can produce enough to keep up with a San Francisco offense that is firing on all cylinders with seventh-round rookie Brock Purdy at quarterback is another matter.
Purdy delivered a nervy first-half performance in his first postseason game, putting the ball in harm’s way with some questionable decision-making and inaccurate throws.
The second half marked a transformation as he operated Kyle Shanahan’s offense in near-flawless fashion, finishing the win over the Seahawks with 332 passing yards and three touchdowns along with an additional rushing touchdown.
Those numbers were in large part a product of Shanahan’s tremendous acumen as a play-caller, with Purdy frequently put in a position to hit wide-open receivers over the middle of the field as the Seahawks failed to deal with the multiplicity of the San Francisco attack. According to the NFL’s NextGen Stats, Purdy had an expected completion percentage of 69 percent in the regular season, putting him second among quarterbacks with at least 150 pass attempts. The one player ahead of him, the injured quarterback he replaced, Jimmy Garoppolo (69.3%), illustrating the degree to which Shanahan’s offense elevates the quarterbacks who are tasked with leading it.
It is substantially easier to lift the play of a quarterback when a team has the level of offensive talent the Niners have at their disposal. Christian McCaffrey, Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel all found the endzone against the Seahawks, the latter’s 74-yard touchdown serving as the dagger at the end of a game where his fellow wideout Brandon Aiyuk had tormented the Seattle secondary, with his 73 receiving yards not reflective of his overall performance.
San Francisco’s ace in the hole is the ability to attack in any number of ways from 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end). With McCaffrey, one of the best receiving running backs in the NFL, and hybrid wide receiver-running back — or ‘wide back’ as he labelled his role last season — Samuel on the field at the same time along with Aiyuk, All-Pro tight end George Kittle and ultra-versatile fullback Kyle Juszczyk in that personnel package, the 49ers can rip off huge gains on the ground and through the air almost at will.
The flexibility of that cast of offensive stars allows the 49ers to show heavy run looks with Juszczyk and Kittle opening holes with their often devastating blocking, but also regularly get five pass catchers out on routes, creating mismatch nightmares for defenses who deploy base personnel more suited to stopping the run in response to San Francisco lining up in 21.
It is that unpredictability that figures to give San Francisco the edge versus a Dallas defense that is susceptible to explosive run plays, having given up 67 of 10 yards or more — the fourth-most in the NFL — in the regular season.
The Cowboys’ vulnerability in that regard does not bode well for Dallas’ hopes of defending the 49ers’ play-action game out of 21 and other personnel packages, and we will likely find out early on whether their defensive success against Tampa Bay was a mirage produced by the comparative predictability of the Buccaneers’ offense under a coordinator in Byron Leftwich who has since been fired.
In short, it’s tough to envision a scenario in which the Cowboys adequately slow down the 49er offense, and the case for San Francisco holding Dallas in check is easier to make. After all, it happened last year, when the Niners’ defense shackled Prescott and the Cowboy offense in a 23-17 win. Prescott was sacked five times and the Cowboys were held to 77 rushing yards.
The 49ers’ depth on the defensive line, led by Defensive Player of the Year-elect Nick Bosa, affords San Francisco the opportunity to throw waves of pass rushers at Prescott, get him off his spot and take him out of the rhythm that was so critical to the Cowboys dismantling Tampa Bay. On the interior of the defensive line, Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw have both excelled of late at clogging run lanes and, if they perform to their standard, can make it extremely tough for Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard to move the ball on the ground.
Maintaining the standard the 49ers have set through this remarkable winning run is no easy feat, especially against a quarterback of Prescott’s calibre. Yet the personnel and the scheme edges are both with San Francisco, and if the Niners hammer those advantages home, they may well move one step closer to the grandest stage of all.
Touchdown of the week
Though the 49ers found the endzone four times, this is a one-horse race, with the pick of the bunch clearly Samuel’s 74-yard catch and run, which came after San Francisco faked a toss to the right and rolled Purdy back to his left to connect with the wide open Samuel over the middle of the field. With the help of some superb downfield blocking from Aiyuk, Samuel sped through the Seattle secondary to end the game as a contest with a touchdown that encapsulated the devastation San Francisco’s diverse offense can wreak.
Offensive player of the week
We’re going to hand this award to two players for the Wild Card round. The 49ers racked up 505 yards of offense against the Seahawks, with McCaffrey and Samuel accounting for 301 of them. With both tied to long-term contracts, the San Francisco attack is set up to be very fun for a very long time.
Defensive player of the week
San Francisco’s defense did not have its best outing in the first half against Seattle and appeared set to give up points on its opening drive, until Charles Omenihu stepped in.
Omenihu ran a stunt with defensive end Samson Ebukam, easily beat Seahawks guard Gabe Jackson as he looped around to get a clear run at Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and knocked the ball from his grasp and into the grateful of arms of Nick Bosa, preserving a 23-17 lead for the Niners, who never looked back from there.
He finished with two sacks and continues to demonstrate an increasingly well-refined pass rush skill set. Having thrived in last year’s postseason win over Dallas, Omenihu looks primed to have another sizeable influence on San Francisco’s postseason prospects.
Tweet of the week
Stat of the week: 4
By throwing for three touchdowns and sneaking for another on the ground, Purdy became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to account for four touchdowns in a playoff game.
Quote of the week
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, clearly impressed by what Purdy has demonstrated so far in his brief NFL career:
"He's not a rookie anymore in our eyes. His instincts, his awareness, and his confidence. For a young player, he definitely looks very confident. You don't see a young player making panicked decisions."
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