San Francisco 49ers Limit Negatives vs. Cowboys

The San Francisco 49ers had plenty of question marks about every facet of the team heading into the regular season. The offense didn’t score a touchdown in the preseason until the last game, the defense is riddled with injuries and suspensions, and the specials teams unit was almost entirely composed of new players.

That didn’t stop the 49ers from winning decisively against the Dallas Cowboys.

The offense looked to be free from all of the problems it supposedly had during the preseason. Colin Kaepernick and company came out and knocked the Cowboys out of the game early. While the stats don’t jump off the page, the offense was efficient and deadly in the first half. The offense didn’t slow until the second half when the game was practically already in the bag.

On defense, the 49ers’ injury woes continued. This was one of the few negatives from this game. By the end of the game, the three starting cornerbacks had all been injured and left the game and some point.

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Despite this, the defense was able to hold back the potent Dallas offense and kept them touchdown-less for the majority of the game. Not until a few questionable penalties and a lucky chuck from Tony Romo did the Cowboys’ offense do any real damage.

The rookies in this game were a huge positive for the 49ers. For the first time in the Harbaugh era, the 49ers have had to reach deep into their depth and put them on the field. Rookie corner Dontae Johnson was thrown into the fire when both Tramaine Brock and Chris Culliver had to leave the game with injures. He played extremely well through the entire game.

Carlos Hyde scored the very first touchdown of his career, and looked to run with both power and speed. Jimmie Ward didn’t have any highlights, but he played a very solid game.

The 49ers’ run defense struggled on Sunday, but there were a number of factors that could have contributed to that. The 49ers like to stay in their nickel package, especially against a team like Dalls that has very good receiving threats. The Cowboys also have a very good offensive line that is considered to be one of the best in the NFL.

Regardless of the reason, the 49ers need to get better at stopping the run, because they will have to face many good running backs this season.

Besides the injuries and the run defense, the only other real negative from this game was Phil Dawson. He missed his only attempt of the game. Dawson also missed a couple of field goals during the preseason as well. This is not good news for the 49ers, who have seen firsthand the quick fall of a veteran kicker. Dawson needs to get back to his old, automatic self.

All in all this was a good game for the 49ers, but they need to realize that they will not be gift-wrapped four turnovers every game. They need to get healthy and continue to play hard and with a strong mentality, because not everything will come so easy. They cannot afford to get lax at any time during this season.