SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Somehow, trailing by six, the Dallas Cowboys still had a chance to win Sunday night with three minutes left. That seemed highly unlikely as the fourth quarter began.

But that’s as close as Dallas could get, as the next four plays resulted in incomplete passes from quarterback Dak Prescott. For the fourth straight time in the past four years, the Cowboys came up short against the San Francisco 49ers, this time 30-24 at Levi’s Stadium.

“Personally, I’m frustrated,” Prescott said. “I’m frustrated with myself and my game. I imagine the rest of the guys don’t get a win and are at 3-4. But I can tell you for sure that no one is shocked or giving up. Frustration is very high, but it is a long season. We still have a lot to look forward to. Frustrated is the best way I can put it. … I have to make the plays, period.”

Prescott said last week that he was average through Dallas’ first six games. To beat the 49ers, the Cowboys needed an above-average QB. For two series, Prescott was just that, connecting with star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes that capped 70-yard drives.

But when they needed a third straight drive starting at their own 25-yard line, Prescott couldn’t come up with any big plays.

“All I can ask for is a chance,” he said. “Ball in our hand, six down, to win the game.”

To be honest, none of the four plays had a very high percentage. The first pitch landed in the hands of 49ers linebacker Fred Warner, nearly ending the game with an interception. Prescott moved out of the pocket on second down looking for TE Jake Ferguson, but was forced to throw out of bounds. On third down, Prescott elected to take a chance on a deep ball to KaVontae Turpin down the left sideline. The ball hit Turpin in the hands, but he couldn’t make the catch. It looked like he wouldn’t have had both feet inside the lines even if he had secured the ball. There was early pressure on fourth down, so Prescott targeted Jalen Brooks, hoping for a highlight grab or pass interference call. Neither happened.

“I have to make throws, pressure or not, and I’m capable of doing that,” he said. “So I have to do it.”

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy: “We have to keep working. We did some things, but we had to stop the run and stick to the run for four quarters. Until we make that pattern work together coherently, we are not playing to our strengths.

“That’s a big part of complementary… pic.twitter.com/yh7hbFplCw

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 28, 2024

For the first time in his career, Prescott had a third straight game with multiple interceptions. He now has eight this season. He threw nine last season.

“I don’t have to be perfect,” he said, “but I damn sure can’t have the sales.”

The first looked like a bad call, throwing to a double-covered Turpin on Dallas’ second possession of the game. Prescott saw some coverage, but his arm was hit while making the throw, causing it to be thrown under the ball, allowing 49ers safety Ji’Ayir Brown to make a play.

“If I can get that clean, it’ll be outside safety,” Prescott said, “probably somewhere on the forward mast. Would have been a completely different story. Unfortunately I didn’t. I let the ball in and the interception happened. What a great play from the front there. Possibly I can just get rid of it, eat it, assuming I can release the ball before I get hit. … A lot of times a bag is better than that.”

He called the second “as stupid of an interception as I think I’ve ever had.” San Francisco opened the second half with a 60-yard touchdown drive. The last thing Dallas needed was a turnover three plays later. Prescott rolled to his left when he thought he could pass a ball over the head of 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir. The pass was intended for Lamb, but the ball never got past Lenoir, who made an impressive leap down the Cowboys sideline.

“Trying to make a play and having too much confidence in myself at the time,” Prescott said. ‘Obviously I should have just thrown it away. I wish I had put a little more heat on it and it would have been (completely to) CeeDee or off track.

INTERCEPTION! Deommodore Lenoir went up and got it for the @49ers 🙌

📺: #DALvsSF on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/USPh5soS18

—NFL (@NFL) October 28, 2024

The 49ers scored another touchdown seven plays later to build a 20–10 lead.

“Once again we put ourselves behind in the turnover battle and that’s on me,” Prescott said. “That’s not possible if you plan to win matches. I have to clean that up, period.”

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said he wished he could get the game back after that interception.

“The place wasn’t clean and I called too early,” he said. “The influence wasn’t there and he’s trying to make a play. We have to get that ball out there.”

If there was anything positive that could be attributed to the loss, it would have to be that there were several stretches where Prescott and Lamb looked more like their old selves. After struggling to get on the same page at times through the first six games, the two connected on 13 of 17 targets for 146 yards and two touchdowns. It was Lamb’s first 100-yard game of the season.

“We’re about to get this thing going,” Lamb said. “We’re about to get this thing running, that’s for sure.”

Prescott has played without anything resembling a quality running game. His offensive line hasn’t done him much good. But eventually he has to get better. The Cowboys’ schedule isn’t getting any easier. They should get defensive help in the coming weeks, but that might not matter if their QB turns the ball over multiple times per game.

“We just have to take it one step at a time,” Prescott said. “Everything is still in our control. We lost four, but it could be hot, and that’s the plan. We just have to keep building.”

(Top photo of Prescott: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)