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Cowboys' balanced offense heads into 49ers matchup with San Francisco banged up
After 508 yards at Indianapolis, the 4-5 Cowboys host a 49ers team missing receivers and watching two cornerbacks listed as day-to-day.
The Dallas Cowboys head into Sunday's home game against the San Francisco 49ers off their most complete offensive game of the season, and San Francisco arrives with injuries at the positions Dallas most wants to attack. In the 27-23 win at Indianapolis, the Cowboys outgained the Colts 508 yards to 271 and averaged 7.2 yards per play, according to Mike Poland's breakdown for SB Nation, which first ran at Blogging The Boys.
CeeDee Lamb did most of the damage through the air with 10 catches for 195 yards and a touchdown, which puts him at 904 yards and seven scores on the season. Javonte Williams added 101 yards on 20 carries and scored the winning touchdown. He now has 629 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. That balance matters against San Francisco. The 49ers have the names up front, with Nick Bosa back in the lineup, but they had no sacks in their last game and had only 15 for the season going in, among the lowest totals in the league.
The bigger issue for San Francisco is on the perimeter. Cornerbacks Renardo Green and Deommodore Lenoir both came out of that game listed as day-to-day. On offense, Christian Kirk is on injured reserve, Mike Evans is not expected to be ready, and Deebo Samuel was only due back at practice midweek after a hamstring injury. That still leaves Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle for Brock Purdy, and they are a hard test for a Dallas secondary that has struggled. The Cowboys did hold Jonathan Taylor to 46 rushing yards last week. Quinnen Williams forced a fumble in that game, and rookie safety Caleb Downs sealed it with his first career interception. Poland calls San Francisco the heavy favorite but gives Dallas "at least a puncher's chance."
What it means for Sunday
At 4-5, Dallas has alternated wins and losses for most of the season, and home games have been the problem. The Cowboys are 1-3 at AT&T Stadium, with losses to Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Arizona, and 3-2 on the road. All five losses have come by 10 points or fewer, and three of them were within a field goal of a tie, including the 33-30 loss to the Cardinals in the last home game. The team has scored 246 points and allowed 236. Dallas games average about 54 combined points, and five of the nine finished above 55.
The board on the game page has the 49ers favored across 12 venues. Novig lists San Francisco at -199 on the moneyline and Dallas at +194. On the spread, Novig has the 49ers favored by 3.5 at -113, with Dallas +3.5 at +111. The widest number anywhere is bet365's Cowboys +4.5 at -117. Novig's total is 55.5, priced -102 on the over and -100 on the under, and BetMGM has the highest total at 56. The sportsbooks' hold on the spread runs from 2.9% to 5.0%, so the venues are fairly close on the side but differ by a full point on the number.
The schedule eases after this. Dallas hosts Tennessee on November 22, and Novig has the Cowboys favored at -426 and by 7.5 points. Sunday is the harder test, and a win over a short-handed San Francisco team would get Dallas back to .500 before a game it is expected to win. For the full season, see the Cowboys team page.