NFL Picks 10/8 – Dallas Cowboys @ San Francisco 49ers

NFL Picks 10/8 – Dallas Cowboys @ San Francisco 49ers

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Dallas Cowboys (3-1) visit the San Francisco 49ers (4-0) in a battle of two of the NFC’s top teams on Sunday Night Football. San Francisco is a 3.5-point favorite and the total is 45. Dallas is coming off a 38-3 trouncing of visiting New England last Sunday, while undefeated San Francisco beat visiting Arizona 35-16. San Francisco’s superstar running back Christian McCaffrey scored a career-high four touchdowns in the win.

San Francisco has eliminated Dallas from the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. The franchises met three straight times in the NFC Championship game from 1992 to 1994 where the winner also went on to win the Super Bowl. Dallas has won three straight and six of seven regular season meetings against San Francisco dating back to 2005. San Francisco has won 14 straight regular season games. 

GAME STORYLINES

Despite all of the year-to-year hype and the ‘America’s Team’ moniker, the Dallas Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season. Expectations are high again for Dallas this season as they are coming off back-to-back 12-win seasons and return a slew of star players on offense and defense.

Dallas did suffer a huge blow to their defense when pro-bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs tore his ACL in practice on September 21, he will miss the entire season.

Dallas still boasts one of the top defenses in the NFL even without Diggs as evidenced in last week’s 38-3 win against New England where they scored 2 defensive touchdowns and had quarterback Mac Jones so flusterd that he was benched in the third quarter.

Headlining the defense is superstar linebacker Micah Parsons. The 24-year-old former 1st round pick has already established himself as one of the NFL’s best players in just his third year. Parsons was named an All-Pro in each of his first 2 seasons and has totaled 26.5 sacks over those seasons. He has 4 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery through 3 games this season. 

Defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (11 tackles, 3 sacks), defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (2 sacks), linebacker Leighton Vander Esch and second-year cornerback DaRon Bland (12 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2 defensive touchdowns) are also standouts on the Cowboys stout defense. Bland led Dallas in interceptions as a rookie last season and will most likely start in Diggs outside corner spot for the rest of the season. 

Talented and oft-criticized Dak Prescott is now in his 8th season as the Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback. Prescott’s overall numbers place him among the best quarterbacks in the NFL but his poor playoff performances and subpar record against winning teams raise questions about how good he really is.

Prescott’s top target is explosive fourth-year wideout CeeDee Lamb. Last season, Lamb caught 107 catches for 1,359 yards and 9 touchdowns, all were career-highs. Lamb has 23 catches for 307 yards and a touchdown through 4 games this season. 

The San Francisco 49ers have spent the past several seasons coming up just short of winning the Super Bowl. In 2019, they lost Super Bowl LIV (54) to the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2021 and 2022, they lost in the NFC Championship Game.

The string of bitter playoff losses could change this season as the offense appears to be just as strong as the defense due to second-year quarterback Brock Purdy and All-World running back Christian McCaffrey having an entire offseason with the organization. Neither player began last season as a starter, Purdy was the third string quarterback while McCaffrey was playing for the Carolina Panthers. 

About a year ago on October 20, 2022, the San Francisco made the bold move of acquiring sensational running back Christian McCaffrey via trade from the Carolina Panthers. McCaffrey had spent 5 spectacular but injury-plagued seasons in Carolina where he was on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory through his first 3 seasons. Over the next 2 seasons, injuries caused him to paticipate in just 10 of 32 games in 2020 and 2021. San Francisco took somewhat of a gamble when you consider McCaffrey’s injury history but it’s paid off tremendously thus far. McCaffrey has played in every game and San Fransisco has gone 16-2 (including playoffs) with him.

He’s also scored a touchdown in a franchise-record 13 straight games. McCaffrey has 459 rushing yards, 141 receiving yards and 7 total touchdowns through 4 games this year.

Quarterback Brock Purdy’s ascension from being ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ of the 2022 draft to now being one of the better starting quarterbacks in the NFL has been astonishing. Purdy has completed 72.9% of his passes for 1,109 yards with 5 touchdowns to 0 interceptions through the first 4 games. Wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk (17 catches for 320 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Deebo Samuel (17 catches for 247 yards, 1 touchdown) along with tight end George Kittle (14 catches for 148 yards) round out San Francisco’s top-tier offense. San Francisco has scored 30 or more points in all 4 wins this year. 

San Francisco’s defense ranks among the elite in the NFL again this year. Last season’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa (NFL-leading 18.5 sacks in 2022), linebacker Fred Warner (130 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble in 2022) and safety Talanoa Hufanga (97 tackles, 4 interceptions, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 defensive touchdown last year) all return after being named All-Pro’s last season.

Hufanga already has 2 interceptions on the season. Free agent newcomer Javon Hargrave and second year defensive end Drake Jackson both have 3 sacks which is tied for the team lead. San Francisco signed Hargrave to a 4-year deal in the offseason after he recorded a career-high 11 sacks with Philadelphia last season. 

THE PICK

With a healthy and improved Brock Purdy back, along with Christian McCaffrey and the elite defense, the 49ers look to be the best team in the NFL, lay the points…49ers 31, Cowboys 21