DALLAS — Even if it seemed like a slightly miraculous performance Monday night, the Cowboys beating Tom Brady for the first time ever was actually an NFL team beating Tom Brady for the 10th time this season.
Dallas’ reward for that long-sought playoff road win is to try to become the first NFL team to beat Brock Purdy.
A seventh-round pick from Iowa State whose tale just may be starting out much like Brady’s did a generation ago, Purdy has led the 49ers to six straight wins, his team scoring at least 35 points in all but one. With Dallas traveling to San Francisco on a short week, somewhere Lamar Hunt is laughing.
The longtime Kansas City Chiefs owner (and Cowboys rival from his days operating the Dallas Texans) sought owner support year after year for his contention that the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving tradition provided them a competitive advantage. Fellow owners never really backed him, possibly noting the lack of Lombardi Trophies or even Super Bowl trips for Detroit, which started hosting the holiday games in 1934.
I have argued that the Cowboys’ real benefit comes from having never been forced to travel for a Thursday night game after playing on a Sunday. They came close this year with a Thursday-after-Saturday game in Tennessee. But there’s no question the league has gifted the 49ers in this case by giving them more than two full days between games than the Cowboys will enjoy. San Francisco was done with Seattle late Saturday afternoon, more than 48 hours before the Cowboys even kicked off in Florida.
A year ago when the league tossed a Monday night game into the wild-card mix, the two Saturday games were both AFC contests. That assured that the Monday night winner (Rams over Arizona) would only be short-changed one day in preparation, not the two-plus that the Cowboys have been handed.
The Cowboys will most likely choose to say little about it publicly this week while keeping the focus on beating a much more formidable opponent than Tampa Bay. But I’m betting the league makes sure next season that no team is given the opportunity to host the first playoff game Saturday afternoon and then host the Monday night winner.
It’s mindless scheduling, but we move on.
The Cowboys‘ next order of business is to do to Purdy what they did to Brady, which, of course, sounds ridiculous. How could defending a rookie taken with the 262nd pick compare to playing the most decorated quarterback in NFL history?
The answer, of course, is that the 49ers do everything better — and mostly a lot better — than Tampa Bay. Purdy’s 6-0 record since replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo (who had replaced an injured Trey Lance) has much to with Christian McCaffrey fitting snugly into a 49ers’ running game that is head coach Kyle Shanahan’s pride and joy. The 49ers have a talented offensive line, game-breaking receivers willing to both carry the ball and block and the best defense in the NFL, not to mention the recent memory of eliminating Dallas in the postseason at AT&T Stadium last year.
I won’t say that none of that matters because, of course, it does. But on Monday night, the Cowboys held a 24-0 lead before the Bucs got on the board. It should have been 28-0 but we know Dallas is also wrestling with a kicker with the yips which could mean nothing in the next game or it could mean the end of the season if those kicks matter. Regardless, we saw the return of the team that beat Minnesota into oblivion, 40-3, back in November.
Now that particular Cowboys team can line up and play with anyone. But Dak Prescott, coming off his own magical night after that weird 0-for-3 start, needs a little support. The Cowboys’ running game has to continue to find its way back. It was getting there Monday, although if coaches are going to insist on giving Ezekiel Elliott equal opportunities to Tony Pollard, it’s not going to reach its peak. Pollard ran for 5.1 yards per carry against the Bucs while Zeke tacked on 2.1. It’s nothing but bizarre if Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore maintains this pattern of alternating on an even basis going forward. The 49ers defense will eat it up.
But having erased a couple of long-standing streaks that troubled the franchise, we know the one that really matters is on deck — no NFC championship game appearances since the 1995 season. To earn a ticket to Philadelphia (or a home game against the Giants ... wouldn’t that be something?), the Cowboys face the franchise they have beaten in the playoffs more times (5) than any other club. Four of those playoff wins got Dallas to Super Bowls.
The Cowboys aren’t asking for that this time. Just a more competitive performance than they delivered last year. This is a better San Francisco team. After Monday night, we know that Dallas can emphatically say the same.
