It was a rivalry renewed between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football." The meeting marked the fourth clash between these two teams over the last four seasons (including the playoffs), all of which have gone in the 49ers favor. With this most recent 30-24 victory, San Francisco extends their lead in the all-time series to 21-19-1 and enters their Bye week on a high note.

San Francisco's Secondary Standouts

Sophomore safety Ji'Ayir Brown came up with the first turnover of the night, picking off Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on their second offensive series. As Dallas entered San Francisco territory, Prescott took the deep shot to the left side of the field that was intercepted by Brown inside the 10 yard line. The takeaway was very much a team effort with defensive lineman Nick Bosa getting the quarterback hit on Prescott as he was releasing his pass. This allowed the 49ers starting safety to jump the route and get the ball back in hands of Brock Purdy and the 49ers offense.

Interception No. 2 was secured by defensive back Deommodore Lenoir following San Francisco's go-ahead third quarter touchdown. Prescott rolled to his left and targeted wide receiver CeeDee Lamb near the sideline, however, Lenoir made a tremendous play on the ball and stayed inbounds to snag the pick. That interception marks back-to-back games for Lenoir with a pick, and, following his splash play, the 49ers offense was able to take over on Dallas 32 yard line.

Dimes to Deebo Samuel Sr.

The deep ball connection between Purdy and wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., who was hospitalized earlier in the week with pneumonia, is alive and well. San Francisco found themselves in a third-and-six situation on their opening drive when Purdy dropped a dime downfield to his "wideback" for an impressive 47-yard completion. San Francisco went on to cap off their seven-play, 55-yard drive with a 50-yard field goal by kicker Anders Carlson.

Injuries of the Game

Running back Jordan Mason went down on his fourth carry of the game and was examined on the field following the six-yard rush. The third-year running back was able to run off the field on his own but only had two more carries before being ruled as questionable to return with a shoulder injury in the second quarter. He did not return to action for the remainder of the game.

Midway through the third quarter, linebacker Dee Winters was evaluated for a head injury, and he was later downgraded to out with a concussion. Samuel Sr. exited the game with injured ribs and did not reenter the game. Cornerback Renardo Green exited the game with an ankle injury.

Celebrating National Tight Ends Day

For the second week in a row, tight end George Kittle closed out the night as the team's receiving yards leader. On the NFL holiday he helped create, Kittle racked up six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, which gives him 6,777 career receiving yards, and he eclipsed the 500-career receptions mark. The veteran tight end's 6,777 career receiving yards are good for the third-most receiving yards in franchise history. Kittle overtook two-time Super Bowl winning receiver Dwight Clark for that No. 3 spot on the leaderboard.

Kittle's longest reception of the day came on the 49ers opening drive of the third quarter. Purdy hit Kittle over the middle and "The People's Tight End" nearly punched in the score before being brought down on Dallas' four yard line. On the next play, rookie Isaac Guerendo took the handoff and barreled into the end zone for his first-career touchdown. Guerendo's four-yard rushing touchdown gave the 49ers the 13-10 advantage.

On the next offensive series, Kittle would not be denied the touchdown. He went untouched into pay dirt and hauled in a two-yard pass from Purdy to extend the lead to 20-10. Holding calls were initially thrown on the play but taken back after review.

Purdy Special

The 49ers QB1 put up huge numbers against Dallas through the air and on the ground. Purdy completed 18-of-26 pass attempts for 260 yards, a touchdown and 114.3 passer rating. He also made a ton of plays with his legs, closing out the game as the 49ers second leading rusher with eight carries for 56 yards and a two-yard touchdown. Purdy has now punched in scores on quarterback sneaks in back-to-back games.

The Cowboys' season isn’t dead at 3-4. And the hole Dallas has dug is way more complex than putting it all at the feet of the quarterback. But Prescott is the most visible player on the roster, the highest paid player in NFL history, and his shortcomings are mirroring the Cowboys’ season that is slipping away fast.

Both teams were desperate for a win. The Cowboys were the ones who played like it in the first half.

The 49ers were sloppy. A 66-yard touchdown to Deebo Samuel Sr. was wiped off the board due to a holding penalty, one of several first-half penalties that set the 49ers back. The offense didn’t score a touchdown before halftime.

The Cowboys weren’t much better, but they were good enough to have a 10-6 halftime lead. Ezekiel Elliott, filling in as the main back when Rico Dowdle became ill before the game, scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. The Cowboys' defense did a solid job containing the 49ers. Dallas has had stretches of terrible play this season but played hard and mostly well in the first half against San Francisco.

And it didn’t take long in the second half for the Cowboys to unravel all the good they had done before halftime.

The 49ers finally got things going early in the third quarter. George Kittle, who has been a highlight for a banged up San Francisco offense all season, had a great play for a 43-yard gain to set up a touchdown run by Isaac Guerendo to give the 49ers a 13-10 lead.

Then Prescott made a huge mistake that helped turn the game in San Francisco’s favor.

Prescott was rolling right on a third down and he threw to a heavily covered CeeDee Lamb. Prescott’s pass went right to cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, who made a nice catch to haul in the interception and land in bounds. There was nowhere for Prescott to go with the pass but he forced it anyway. That set up a touchdown from Kittle and San Francisco led 20-10.

That’s how the Cowboys’ season is going. They played a good enough half to lead on the road at halftime. And with just a few mistakes in the first few minutes of the third quarter, they turned a halftime lead into a 10-point deficit. In the Cowboys’ first three series of the second half, as the game slipped away, they ran nine plays and gained 15 yards with no first downs and Prescott’s interception.

The Cowboys rallied and a Lamb touchdown, his second of the fourth quarter, with 3:32 left cut San Francisco’s lead to 30-24. The Cowboys got a stop and the 49ers had a poor punt, giving Prescott the chance with 3:05 left to drive the Cowboys for a game-winning score. He couldn’t come through. Prescott’s first pass was thrown into heavy coverage and was almost intercepted. After two more incompletions, one a close one to KaVontae Turpin, Prescott threw deep on fourth-and-10 and it was another misfire, and there was no pass interference called on the 49ers.

The 49ers deserve a lot of credit for turning the game around. They’re dealing with many injuries as well, including one to running back Jordan Mason that knocked him out of Sunday’s game, and were in some trouble after a rough first half. But the defense settled in and the offense made enough plays to put the Cowboys in a big hole. They’re back to .500 and the NFC West’s struggles mean the 49ers are still in fine shape to win the division.

The Cowboys came into the season with high hopes, after winning 12 games each of the past three seasons. The postseason hasn’t been good for the Cowboys but you could count on them being one of the NFL’s best teams in the regular season. That’s not the case this season. There are many issues on both sides of the ball. But only one of their players is making $60 million a season. If the Cowboys are going to make anything of this season, it probably starts with their quarterback getting out of his slump.

Sometimes, Dak Precott gets criticized unfairly. This season, he deserves all the scrutiny. The Cowboys are 3-4, and a lot of it starts with their $240 million QB. https://t.co/qybVClAG3H

— Frank Schwab (@YahooSchwab) October 28, 2024

And that'll do it. The 49ers hang on to grab the 30-24 win, which moves them to 4-4 on the season.

Brock Purdy went 18-of-26 for 260 yards with two total touchdowns in the win. Guerendo had 85 yards and touchdown on the ground, and George Kittle had 128 yards and a touchdown on six catches.

Dak Prescott went 25-of-38 for Dallas with 243 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. CeeDee Lamb had 146 yards and two touchdowns on 13 catches. The Cowboys are now 3-4.

George Kittle and the 49ers take down the Cowboys on SNF 💪 pic.twitter.com/EkPXhJupxv

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) October 28, 2024

The Cowboys fell two games behind the Eagles and two-and-a-half games behind the Commanders.

Philadelphia had a very impressive win over the Bengals earlier today while Washington was incredibly lucky to escape their game against the Bears with a victory.

What a close division! The Rams are one win shy of every team being .500.

The 49ers are 1-2 in divisional matchups so far, with a home game against the Seahawks coming up in three weeks as their next NFC West game.

Improving to 4-4 with the win, San Francisco finds themselves in a three-way tie atop the NFC West alongside Arizona and Seattle. After a bye in Week 9, they will travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers in Week 10 before returning home in Week 11 to face the Seahawks.

After falling to 3-4 tonight, Dallas will on the road once again in Week 9 as they travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons, who currently sit atop the NFC South.

Then, in Week 10, the Cowboys will host the Eagles in a pivotal divisional clash.