Maiocco’s 49ers report card: Team grades in chaotic win vs. Cowboys originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SANTA CLARA – The 49ers’ game Sunday night seemed like a perfect reflection of their 2024 NFL season so far.

The 49ers had their moments. And there were times when they were just plain bad.

But they were good enough long enough to escape with a 30-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium, moving their record to 4-4 on the season.

Now they enter the bye week with nine games remaining in the regular season and all of their goals for the season still in play.

“Getting a win tonight was huge,” 49ers tight end George Kittle said. “It gives you confidence. There are a lot of things we will try to clean up, but I think we are taking steps in the right direction.”

Here’s the 49ers’ report from their Week 8 win over the Cowboys:

Rushing foul

The 49ers spread it around in the running game, with seven different players gaining a total of 223 yards against one of the worst defenses in the NFL.

Rookie Isaac Guerendo took over for Jordan Mason, who left the game with a shoulder injury. Guerendo gained 85 yards and a touchdown on 14 rushing attempts. He put the game away with a 14-yard run on a third-and-2 play and wisely slid to the 3-yard line.

Quarterback Brock Purdy also played with his legs. He gained 56 yards and a touchdown on eight rushing attempts, including a kneel to run out the clock.

Even rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall got in on the action with a 39-yard gain on a jet sweep play. The 49ers averaged 6.2 yards per carry on 36 rushing attempts.

Grade: A

Offence

It was a big rebound game for Purdy, who had a solid performance just a week after the worst statistical game of his NFL career.

Purdy completed 18 of 26 pass attempts for 260 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions and a passer rating of 114.3.

Kittle had a big game, as he caught six passes for 128 yards and a touchdown on National Tight Ends Day – a quasi-holiday he helped create.

Deebo Samuel had a solid game with four receptions for 71 yards. He had flubbed a 66-yard touchdown pass in the first half after Eric Saubert’s holding penalty.

The 49ers converted eight of their 16 third-down chances.

Grade: B-plus

Hasty defense

The 49ers put the clamps on the Cowboys rushing attack, which entered the night with a league-low average of 77 yards rushing per game. Dallas gained just 56 yards on 19 rushing attempts.

Ezekiel Elliott was the Cowboys’ leading rusher with 34 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries.

Linebacker Fred Warner led the 49ers with eight tackles, including one for loss. De’Vondre Campbell had one of his better games with seven tackles.

Grade: A

Pass defense

A pair of broken coverages late in the game gave the Cowboys a chance to stage a comeback, with CeeDee Lamb catching 13 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

Before that, the 49ers pass defense did a number on Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense. Nick Bosa got pressure on Prescott, forcing an interception from safety Ji’Ayir Brown in the first half.

Deommodore Lenoir picked off Prescott in the third quarter. Prescott had a passer rating of just 79.2 as he completed 25 of 38 passes for 243 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Bosa and Sam Okuayinonu recorded sacks and both players had three quarterback hits each.

Grade: B

Special teams

In a season filled with one special teams blunder after another, the 49ers played a fairly clean game.

The 49ers’ coverage units limited return man KaVontae Turpin on punt returns and kickoffs. Turpin had just one punt return for 13 yards, and he averaged just 23.0 yards on five kickoff returns.

Rookie Jacob Cowing averaged 11.0 yards on two punt returns, and Patrick Taylor averaged 29.5 yards on two kickoff returns.

Kicker Anders Carlson went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, making his kicks from 50, 44 and 41 yards. The only mistake was a kickoff out of bounds, giving the Cowboys possession at the 40-yard line.

Grade: B

Coaching

After a lackluster first half, the 49ers turned it around in the third quarter to outscore Dallas 21-0 and take full control.

But then the 49ers let the Cowboys get right back into it. Early in the fourth quarter, the 49ers were on second-and-1. On third-and-1, coach Kyle Shanahan elected not to run the ball and Purdy’s pass was incomplete.

The pass defense had some disappointments with broken coverages in the fourth quarter, allowing the Cowboys to get back into it.

The 49ers were good enough to win, but were anything but a fresh unit from start to finish.

Grade: C-plus

General

The 49ers were good enough in the third quarter to overcome a slow start and a near-disastrous fourth quarter.

That might work against a flawed team like the Cowboys, but it’s simply not good enough if this team has any hope of making a run in the second half of the season.

The 49ers have been down this road before this season with similar losses to the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals. They came away with an up and down game against Dallas.

Grade: B-minus