The history of the running game remains the same for the Cowboys

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Going into the bye week, there was hope that the Dallas Cowboys would come out of the break refreshed and change history given their ability to both establish the run on offense and stop it on defense.

However, the story was exactly the same on Sunday night in the 30-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Offensively, it wasn't a good start as Rico Dowdle was unavailable due to illness when he arrived at the stadium. “We waited about 15 minutes before the 90-minute mark and then made that decision,” Mike McCarthy said of Dowdle’s absence.

“We waited about 15 minutes before the 90-minute mark and then made that decision,” Mike McCarthy said of Dowdle’s absence.

This obviously changed McCarthy's approach to the running game on offense, as Dowdle was expected to get more touches as the game progressed. However, there was hope that Dowdle's absence would lead to more attention being focused on Dalvin Cook, the newly promoted running back who is trying to bring something to the Cowboys' running game alongside Ezekiel Elliott.

“The running back position is important to us because the running game is important,” McCarthy said. “We can’t keep playing the way we played in the first and second rounds.”

But Cook's presence still didn't make a difference for Dallas, as he rushed for just 12 yards on six carries. Overall, the Cowboys ran for 56 yards on 19 carries, an average of 2.9 yards per carry.

There was a glimmer of hope in the second quarter when Ezekiel Elliott carried the ball four times for 22 yards and a touchdown on the Cowboys' first touchdown drive, but it quickly disappeared as Elliott would finish with 34 yards on the night.

“We tried to find a rhythm with (Elliott) and Dalvin (Cook),” McCarthy said. “I thought we established that it was going well in the first half and we would have liked to have done the same thing in the third quarter.”

On the defensive side, the Cowboys gave up 223 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 36 carries, with San Francisco averaging 6.2 yards per carry. All of this happened without Christian McCaffrey, the 2023 AP Offensive Player of the Year, available to the 49ers.

The Cowboys did a good job of bringing in Jordan Mason, the NFL's second-leading rusher, when he was in the game. Mason finished the game with six carries for 18 yards before exiting in the second quarter with a shoulder injury. Rookie Isaac Guerendo led the 49ers the rest of the way with 85 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Despite all of that, the Cowboys defense feels like it has taken steps in the right direction.

“I think we took a step forward, I think we missed some of those quarterback runs…,” Cowboys defensive tackle Linval Joseph said. “We just need to go back to the drawing board and make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”

Brock Purdy was the 49ers' second-leading rusher, collecting 56 yards on eight carries and also scoring a touchdown. It was the second-highest rushing performance of Purdy's career, but Joseph said he wasn't surprised by Purdy's ability to use his legs as a weapon.

“I know he can run, I’ve played against him before, he’s a very good quarterback,” Joseph said. “He got a couple of runs in and I think that made the difference.”

Cowboys defenders pointed out that the third quarter was the biggest problem of the entire game, including in terms of stopping the run. The 49ers ran 64 yards and scored both rushing touchdowns in the frame.

“We took it in the third quarter, regained our composure in the fourth quarter and finished strong, but it just wasn’t enough,” DeMarvion Overshown said.

The next opportunity for the Cowboys to write a more positive chapter in their rollercoaster history in the running game comes next Sunday on the road against the Atlanta Falcons.