SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Entering Sunday’s game with the Dallas Cowboys, the San Francisco 49ers had won 72 straight games when they led by more than 17 points entering the fourth quarter.

After forcing a three-and-out to open the fourth quarter on Sunday night, it appeared the Niners would extend that streak to 73 with relative ease.

While they ultimately did, the fact that they had to post a 30-24 win instead of cruising to a convincing win raised some alarm bells for a team that has already blown double-digit fourth-quarter leads twice this season. has coughed up figures.

“I was frustrated,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “We turned it into a game when it wasn’t necessary, especially defensively. Freebies, you know, where they didn’t have to earn it… We can’t let it happen so we put ourselves in that situation so we had to getting ourselves out there. It was about going out and finishing the game.”

In less than five minutes of play, the Niners saw their lead shrink from 27-10 to 30-24. The 49ers went three-and-out after Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb scored an easy 20-yard touchdown, giving the Cowboys the ball and a chance to win with 3:05 remaining.

On the sideline, an irate Warner informed his defensive teammates that the miscommunication and botched coverage that allowed Dallas to quickly get back into the game were unacceptable. Thoughts of previous disappointments in the losses to the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams haunted their minds.

This time, however, the 49ers defense took a bow, forcing four consecutive Dak Prescott incompletions to get the ball back and put the game away.

“Really, our captain (Warner), he just let us know that this isn’t going to happen again and that we’re going to win this game on defense,” cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said. “That was a big proof that we were ready. What we had to do this whole season.”

However, in order for the Niners to even their record at 4-4, the burden on Sunday night largely fell on an offense trying to generate points without injured stars like running back Christian McCaffrey (Achilles tendonitis) and receivers. Brandon Aiyuk (torn ACL and MCL in his right knee) and Jauan Jennings (hip).

As if that wasn’t enough, San Francisco lost running back Jordan Mason to a left shoulder injury and receiver Deebo Samuel to a rib injury during the game. That left all eyes on star George Kittle, who was dealing with a foot sprain that limited him in practice all week and listed him as doubtful.

Despite Kittle’s obvious importance to the offense, he still managed to put in a big performance in a game the Niners had to play. It also happened to happen during the “holiday” Kittle invented in 2019 that celebrates those who play his favorite position: tight end.

“He’s a warrior,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “There’s a lot of guys in this league that wouldn’t play the things he plays every year. And when he plays the best tight end in the league on National Tight End Day while he’s fighting stuff, that just shows how much an animal he is.”

Kittle finished with six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, reaching the century mark for the 18th time in his career, the third-most 100-yard receiving games by any player in franchise history.

In addition, Kittle reached 500 career receptions, moving him into fifth place in franchise history in that category and passing Gene Washington and Dwight Clark to climb into third place on the franchise’s all-time receiving yards list (6,777). He trails only Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens.

“(I’m) just grateful to be part of an organization that has a very high standard in the way they play football,” Kittle said. “Grateful for keeping me around for so long and striving every day to be better than before and continually proving that I should be on the San Francisco 49ers roster.”

Including the playoffs, the victory was San Francisco’s fourth straight against Dallas, the longest streak against the Cowboys since winning six in a row from 1981 to 1990.

Now they’re looking ahead to a much-needed farewell that they hope will bring key players like McCaffrey, Jennings and kicker Jake Moody (sprained right ankle) back to the fold in time for the Nov. 10 meeting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The extra downtime also appears to be beneficial for the 49ers who suffered injuries on Sunday, including Mason, Samuel, cornerback Renardo Green (ankle) and linebacker Dee Winters (concussion).

By the time they get back to business, the Niners could have some new additions as well. Since Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017, the 49ers have made at least one pre-deadline trade in every season except 2018.

With the deadline set for November 5, the 49ers will once again be looking for reinforcements, especially along the defensive line.

Whatever the case, the 49ers are hoping that Sunday’s narrow win, combined with the upcoming time off, will be the recipe that propels them to another deep postseason run.

“We can be whoever we want,” Warner said. “Honestly, I think after the bye, it’s 0-0. We’re at .500 right now. I think we’re a game back from first place in the division…but we still have everything for us.”