Spagnola: One horrendous quarter did them in

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – And in the end, oh, how these Dallas Cowboys teased us.

After that 47-9 shellacking at the hands, legs and arms of the Detroit Lions two weeks ago, guarantee most everyone came into this Sunday night game against the San Francisco 49ers, the 3-4 Niners at that, expecting the worst. Why, to a man all those on the NBC pregame show picked the Niners, including former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett.

But doggone it, the 3-3 Cowboys, coming off their bye,were up 10-6 at halftime, and you're thinking, Maybe but maybe. In fact, someone asked me to sum up my feeling in four words at halftime.

And needing just word I said, "Encouraging."

Hey, they had a lead, and on the road here at Levi's Stadium. Actually had scored a red-zone touchdown. They had given up just two field goals, and this from a team surrendering11 first-half touchdowns in the first six games.

And then they pumped realistic hope of pulling off a miracle comeback, scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb acting as if this was just like old times running their two-minute offense. And I'll be, the defense, as porous as it seemingly has been over the past seven quarters, bowed up to force two three-and-outs and one field goal.

As preposterous as this might seem, with 3:05 left to play, the Cowboys had the ball with first-and-10 at their own 25-yard line after scoring touchdowns on consecutive possessions. Sugarplums were dancing in my mind, like seriously, what if they could drive down the field 43 years after "The Catch," to come up with their own "Catch" in the end zone to pull out their own one-point victory.

Well, sorry, here to say, "not so much," these dreams only a tease. The Cowboys suffered their fifth possession without a first down, and this one a four-and-out.

Ballgame. Niners 30, Cowboys 24.

Cowboys 3-4. Cowboys losers of two straight for the second time this season. Cowboys third place in the NFC East, now 2½ games behind first place Washington (6-2), blessed with a game winning Hail Mary and Our Father to boot earlier on Sunday, and two games behind Philadelphia (5-2).

Good thing there are 10 more games to play.

But this franchise must be asking what, what else can go sideways?

Start with two Pro Bowlers still missing, Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland, not to mention previous starters DeMarcus Lawrence, Marshawn Kneeland and Brandin Cooks. And by thetime the game was over, the Cowboys lost another cornerback, Amani Oruwariye leaving with a back injury, the Cowboys already without Bland, but also Calen Carson and Andrew Booth, two of the team's game-day inactives.

Then there was the curious case of Brandon Aubrey, not only summoned for jury duty last Tuesday but selected as one of the 12 jurors for a felony trial, having to arrange night practicesto get his kicking in.

Then starting-running back Rico Dowdle becomes a last-minute inactive, ill with a fever determined by the medical team too high to play 90 minutes before kickoff. Then while trying to enter Levi's Stadium on Sunday, Cowboys front office personneland Jerry Jones' kids, Charlotte Jones and Jerry Jones Jr., along with grandson Shy Anderson Jr., were involved in a car accidentwhen a car barricade came up out of the ground to jostle the car. And by time the second half rolled around, found out Cowboys vice president of media relations Tad Carper had undergonesurgery to remove a cancerous tumor during the bye week, causing him to miss the game.

My gosh, what next?

Well, got that one for you too.

The third quarter. A nightmare.

Why, San Francisco, after ending the first half with a second field goal, then proceeded to score three consecutive touchdowns, knifing through the Cowboys defense as if the consistency of queso, not to mention the continuation of more unfortunate misfortune.

And we can start with the opening kickoff when the Cowboys were flagged for an illegal formation that wasn't illegal. New York called down to inform the officiating crew of their mistake after the fact, the Cowboys never compensated for the lost five yards.

Then there was the Niners perfectly executed illegal pick play on Brock Purdy's touchdown pass to a wide-open George Kittle. Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson was picked off by Niners wide receiver Chris Conley, causing Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy to remark, "Thought it was clearly a pick play." Crystal clear and why two flags came out, though one official convinced them to pick those up. Call that a triple-pick,so to speak.

And if that were not enough, replays showed Purdy's elbow on the ground with the ball never breaking the plane on his two-yard touchdown run, though likely just a one-down delay of the inevitable the way the Niners were carving up the Cowboys defense running the ball.

But if all that was not bad enough, let me present Exhibit D:

Oh, that third quarter.

Not only did the Niners score three touchdowns in the quarter, they ended up gaining 167 total yards. And by time the quarter ended with the Cowboys now trailing 27-10, the combination of Purdy and third-string rookie running back Isaac Guerendo had now rushed for 134 yards. Guerendo, subbing in for Jordan Mason, finished the game with 85 and Purdy 56.

"The third quarter was a big factor in the game," a despondent McCarthy pointed out, the combination of the Niners scoring every time they touched the ball and the Cowboys going three-and-out on their only two possessions, the second ending in Dak Prescott's second interception on a poor decision, plus the start of a third straight three-and-out that finished up in the fourth quarter.

As we continue dissecting this loss, stop me when you've heard these for the umpteenth time.

After doing a halfway-decent job of stopping a San Francisco team averaging 149.9 yards a game rushing in the first half, the 49ers suddenly found some leaks in a Dallas defense that had been loading up the line of scrimmage. They finished with 223 yards rushing, nearly half of their 469 total yards.

Then there was the Cowboys continued inability to protect Dak. He was sacked two times, hit attempting to pass eight times and had Niners nipping at his feet all game long. On his first interception, attempting to throw deep to KaVontae Turpin, he tried throwing off his back foot because of compounding pressure from 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa. No surprise his throw came up short, as he watched while lying on the ground.

And there still is the persistent inability to consistently run the football. The Cowboys finished with 56 yards on 19 carries, minus the projected-starter Dowdle.

Hopefully, all those yearning for the Cowboys to elevate veteran running back Dalvin Cook off the practice squad were watching. Well, ya'll got your wish. His six carries netted all of 12 yards. By no means was he some sort of running-game panacea. As I've been saying, by all means put Cook in there if he can run and block, too.

Maybe now everyone will understand the Cowboys'problems running the ball stems from an offensive line'sinability to open holes. Too many times Ezekiel Elliott, who actually was plowing his way nicely, and Cook, too, were hit at or behind the line of scrimmage. And not a good thing with Bosa revving up on the line of scrimmage because the Cowboys were forced to throw the ball 38 times.

Don't mind being an I-told-you-so.

Oh, and then there was the inability to put pressure on Purdy – he needed only 18 completions to throw for 260 yards and a touchdown. And they had no answer for Niners tight end George Kittle, who finished appropriately on his inventedNational Tight Ends Day with six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, running wide open as if on some California freeway at midnight.

And if you have not received enough evidence for this six-point loss, closer than what the total stats might suggest, well,here is another: The Niners big-played the Cowboys into submission. Six of their 64 plays accounted for 205 yards – three of those totaling 101 yards. The other 58 were a more reasonable 264 yards, or 4.5 a play.

Now on to Atlanta. There is time.

At some point Parsons and Bland will return. At some point Cooks returns from IR after missing one more game. Lawrence and Kneeland, too, maybe in time for Thanksgiving. Don't forget, no matter the bold statements about "next man up," injuries do matter.

"We're 3-4, and that's the facts of this deal," McCarthy said. "We're disappointed, disappointed because we felt like we could come in here and do what we needed to do, and we came up short."

That the Cowboys did, teasing us all along the way.