Dak Prescott calls 49ers’ blowout vs. Cowboys ‘the most humbling’ loss he’s ever been a part of

Sunday night’s matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers was viewed as the game of the week by many. Two NFC contenders with a storied rivalry — the underdog with a chance to snap a 15-game regular-season winning streak. Instead, the Cowboys were run off the field in Santa Clara, 42-10.

Brock Purdy threw for 252 yards and four touchdowns, as the 49ers racked up 421 yards of total offense compared to the Cowboys’ 197. Dallas turned the ball over four times, including three interceptions from Dak Prescott, who afterwards called this loss maybe the most humbling one he’s ever been a part of. 

“Didn’t see it coming,” Prescott said, via ESPN. “Put everything into it and got punched in the mouth. Called it a couple weeks ago humbling against Arizona, but this may be the most humbling I’ve ever been a part of. Felt good about the preparation and felt good about everything, honestly, coming into this game, matchups, and they beat us in every aspect.”

The 32-point beatdown was the largest win in 49ers-Cowboys series history. It was the largest loss of Prescott’s career, and the second-largest loss of head coach Mike McCarthy’s career. The Cowboys picked up just eight first downs compared to the 49ers’ 25 first downs, and allowed more points on Sunday (42) than they allowed in Weeks 1-4 combined (41). 

“It’s a punch in the gut, it’s a kick in the ass, whatever phrase you want to put on it,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been knocked down, clearly. They beat us in all three phases. We will clearly acknowledge it. I’ve never been a burn-the-tape guy. I think that is a crock of s—. We’re going to go through it, make sure we’re clear on exactly what the expectations are and make sure we’re giving the players what they need to be successful. They played extremely well, and we did not.

“I thought we had taken a step as a team. I didn’t see this coming. I thought the prep was good this week. I thought we had one of our better Friday and Saturdays of the year. But it’s like we talked about before: Sometimes you have a great week of preparation and it doesn’t go so well. We did not hit the mark at all.”

For the Cowboys this season, the highs have been very high, and the lows have been pretty low. Dallas hit the ground running in Week 1 with a 40-0 blowout victory over the rival New York Giants, and followed that up with an easy 20-point win over the New York Jets. However, the Cowboys were then upset by the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3, 28-16, despite being listed as double-digit favorites. Dallas rebounded with a dominant 38-3 showing over Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, but then followed it up with this loss to the 49ers.

We are still learning about what this Cowboys team is and what they can be, but Sunday night was certainly humbling when it comes to figuring out where Dallas ranks in the NFC.