DALLAS — There was no physical torch on the sidelines at Candlestick Park on that late January afternoon 41 years ago, but America could sense something was shifting when Joe Montana found Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone that day. The Cowboys, who had lived in the Super Bowl, going five times in the ‘70s, would not make a trip in the ‘80s. The 49ers would win four Lombardi Trophies in the decade.
Likewise, for those of us in the press box 11 years later — we just passed the 30th anniversary of this game Tuesday — it was unofficial and yet it was there. If San Francisco, which always looked like the best team in the regular season, was going to fail a third straight year to reach the Super Bowl, maybe the young Troy Aikman-led Cowboys were about to do something more than win one game.
Indeed, they did.
Now, first of all, this isn’t that. It’s not an NFC Championship Game, but the winner does get a ticket. Levi’s Stadium is a good 40 miles south of San Francisco, so even the venue has changed. Moreover, this weekend feels like a different sort of a changing of the guard than simply Cowboys and 49ers passing a torch back and forth, although both are heavily involved.
This weekend with eight teams seeking spots in conference title games, there isn’t a single quarterback who has celebrated a 30th birthday still standing. At 29, Dak Prescott is the senior member of this group and the only product of the 2016 draft.
In fact, the Cowboys-49ers game should feature the least likely quarterbacks to be handling starting jobs, much less torches. Five quarterbacks playing this weekend were chosen in the top 10 picks in various drafts with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence going No. 1 overall. Philly’s Jalen Hurts was a second-round pick.
Prescott, of course, was the 135th pick in 2016 and the 49ers’ Brock Purdy checked in dead last at No. 262 coming out of Iowa State last April. You’re not supposed to make cornerstones out of such late selections, but then again, the guy missing this weekend after being eliminated by Dallas was a sixth-round pick, so what does anyone really know when it comes to the draft?
If Prescott is to guide Dallas back into that unfamiliar NFC title game territory, he needs to stay turnover free for another weekend. But it really goes beyond No. 4 in the pocket. The 49ers and Kyle Shanahan are attempting to prove — even if this was not by design — that if a team puts enough skill players around a most inexperienced, undecorated quarterback in a system built on physical dominance, it can still win a championship. And that’s what Dallas is fighting against Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
Is Tony Pollard a better running back than Christian McCaffrey? No, the historical ledger tells us otherwise. But for one afternoon, can Pollard produce as many big plays as the newest 49ers back? Can the Dallas line that looked revitalized against Tampa Bay before losing veteran tackle Jason Peters hold up against a supremely talented 49ers’ front seven?
You feel like that has to happen for Dallas to survive and advance. If not, can CeeDee Lamb put together his finest big game as a pro? Wide receiver Deebo Samuel was the dominant player in the 49ers’ 23-17 playoff win over Dallas last year, and he did it from the backfield. Samuel ran for more yards than Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott combined. Meanwhile, Lamb caught one pass for 21 yards, and he really was not an early factor in the blowout win over Tampa Bay on Monday night.
Lamb has the regular-season stats, but when does he arrive as a playoff game-changer? Failing that, can T.Y. Hilton produce another 52-yard catch as he did in his first game here against the Eagles? Can Michael Gallup create his biggest moment as a Cowboy? Remember, in a 1992 NFC title game that featured Michael Irvin, Jerry Rice and John Taylor, no one would have predicted Alvin Harper to come up with the game-breaking play in a 117-yard performance against the 49ers.
Maybe the last best hope for Dallas to win an instrumental skill position battle is at tight end. Yes, the odds favor San Francisco one more time. George Kittle is a four-time Pro Bowler, a monster blocker that Dalton Schultz could never attempt to become and it was Kittle who caught seven touchdown passes in the last four regular-season games to secure San Francisco’s No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
But Prescott and Schultz have a chemistry that reminds one of Aikman-Jay Novacek or Tony Romo-Jason Witten. Schultz has caught four of Prescott’s last seven touchdown passes. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said Friday it’s the “continued discussion those guys are having all week that leads us to a very decisive, confident Sunday.’’
Beyond that, it’s on the Dallas defense to create some discomfort for Purdy. Certainly Seattle did nothing to dislodge his confidence in a 41-23 romp last Saturday. But Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who forged his reputation in Seattle, leads a much more dynamic, dangerous defense than the current Seahawks unit.
Prescott showed what he can deliver, given a little time against an inferior opponent Monday. Now he needs a little time against a better opponent. He might be the oldest of the quarterbacks still playing, but it’s not too late to carry this team into a more promising future.
