The San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys are two of the most successful franchises in the NFL, each having won five Super Bowls. Watch Sunday Night Football live on Sky Sports NFL early Monday morning, kick off 1.20am
The San Francisco 49ers (4-0) and Dallas Cowboys (3-1), two of the best teams in the NFL this season, meet Sunday night to continue a fierce rivalry that dates back more than four decades and plenty of playoff drama. ..
What happened when they last met?
Christian McCaffrey ran for a touchdown as the 49ers beat the Cowboys 19-12 in the divisional round of the playoffs last year to clinch their third NFC title in four years.
Kicker Robbie Gould scored the remaining 12 points on four field goals, while then-rookie quarterback Brock Purdy completed 19-of-29 passes for 214 yards. George Kittle also had a day for himself, hauling in five catches for 95 yards, including an incredible one-handed circus takedown off the helmet to assist on McCaffrey’s game-winning score.
Think back to the last two playoff games where the Dallas Cowboys faced off against the San Francisco 49ers.
It was the second straight year Dallas choked on the big stage against San Francisco, with QB Dak Prescott going 23-37 for 206 yards, one touchdown — to give them a brief 6-3 lead — and two first downs. . partial interceptions.
The game also ended in rather farcical circumstances when, with Dallas trailing by seven and its own 24-yard line with six seconds left, quarterback Ezekiel Elliott lined up over the middle for a trick play and was promptly blown. Niners defense.
Christian McCaffrey started this season with a bang, already rushing for 268 yards with two touchdowns.
Didn’t the Niners beat Dallas in the playoffs last year too?
Yes, they did. The two teams met in the wild card round of the playoffs, this time in Dallas, when the Niners withstood a late Cowboys comeback to win 23-17.
Deebo Samuel was the star of San Francisco’s drive, finishing with 110 yards rushing, 72 of which came on the ground, including a 26-yard touchdown just after Prescott’s third-quarter interception that put the Niners ahead. leading 16
Dallas came back to fight in the fourth quarter. Prescott cut the deficit to six with eight minutes left after 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo scored on a 5-yard run.
The Cowboys would have a chance to tie the game or even win it if they got their last punt return with 32 seconds left and it looked like Prescott set them up for one last try at the 49ers’ 41-yard line. row
Instead, with 14 seconds left in the game, the Cowboys called for a QB run to try to sneak more yards into the end zone before the final drive, but they couldn’t get the ball in time after Prescott’s 17-yard rush and time. . made a run to thwart their finals hopes
In the 90s, the dynasty of cowboys dominates
The dynamic between these two NFL champions was not always like this, as the Cowboys upset the 49ers more than once in the 1990s when the teams met in three series in the NFL Championship Game.
In fact, the winner of the competition spanning all three seasons from 1992 to 1994 also won the Vince Lombardi Trophy, allowing many to call these titanic battles the actual Super Bowl.
Dallas won the first two. First, they got the better of the 49ers at Candlestick Park, winning 30-20. Twelve months later, and the Cowboys dispatched San Francisco in even more emphatic fashion, this time at home, sitting against the second-place Niners in the conference. Even with their Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman out with a concussion, the Cowboys won 38-21.
Another year and another NFC Championship Game later, the 49ers finally got the better of their formidable foes with a 38-28 home victory en route to a then-record fifth Super Bowl, which led to quarterback Steve Young announcing that he was finally out. “monkey on my back” after never reaching the promised land itself.
The Niners dynasty is born “The Catch!”
The playoff between the teams in the 1990s was not the first since San Francisco’s dynasty — five Super Bowl victories in 13 years — began with a performance that is still considered one of the NFL’s greatest catches. all the time — so much. so it’s just called “Prey”.
In the 1981 NFC Championship Game, the 49ers secured their first ever season win over the Cowboys – having been upset against them three times in the 1970s – when wide receiver Dwight Clark made a spectacular catch in the end zone.
Christian McCaffrey scored four touchdowns in the victory of the San Francisco 49ers over the Arizona Cardinals.
Hall of Famer Joe Montana is down six and facing 3rd-and-3 at the Dallas six-yard line with 58 seconds left. and stay within limits. The 49ers held on for a 28–27 victory before defeating the Cincinnati Bengals for their first Super Bowl win.
How about a weekend meeting?
Even though Sunday’s game is only a regular-season event, it still carries a lot of importance in the playoffs considering how the NFC has played the last two years.
These two teams will no doubt make the playoffs again and it would be no surprise were they to match their 90s streak of three-straight postseason clashes.
But who will finish as the higher seed and earn that all-important home advantage should that eventuality play out?
“It’s a huge game this weekend. A consequential and potentially monumental game as it relates to the final seeding in the NFC,” said Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
“It’s Cowboys at 49ers, the two best teams in the NFC, playing one time this year and with the very good chance that they’ll meet again in the postseason. The outcome of this game goes a long way to determining where that game will be.
“There’s layers and levels of intrigue and relevance to this game on Sunday night. Cowboys-49ers, the rivalry has been restored.”
Watch the Dallas Cowboys at the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football, live on Sky Sports NFL early on Monday morning, with kick-off at 1.20am
