The Dallas Cowboys are looking for their first back-to-back wins of the season, but they have to go against their Dak Prescott era nemesis, the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers, perhaps the best team in the league with a 7-1 record, have overcome a multitude of injuries that have left their receiving corps in shambles. It’s possible former Cowboy Brandin Cooks and newly acquired Keenan Allen are the starting receivers for San Francisco. Head coach Kyle Shanahan continues to produce high-powered offenses regardless of his team’s health.
Dallas has its own injury issues, with Jalen Thompson still out and P.J. Locke joining him on the sidelines with a concussion. Jake Ferguson and Tyler Goodson are out after being significant contributors to their Week 9 win over the Indianapolis Colts. They also aren’t sure about the returns of defndersJoey Porter Jr. or DeMarvion Overshown. Those might be the three biggest questions going into the Week 10 contest for Dallas, but they have more to answer if they want to be competitive with the 49ers on Sunday.
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Quinnen Williams has played at an All-Pro level despite the unit’s lack of success on defense. According to Pro Football Network, Williams leads the league with 14 tackles for loss. He’s two ahead of all-world pass rusher Will Anderson, and the next-closest defensive tackles are Jeffrey Simmons and Mason Graham, with nine. Williams has had at least two tackles for a loss in four straight games, with five of the 14 being sacks. The question for Dallas is: can players step up to join him?
When he was available, Porter played great, and rookie Caleb Downs had a sack and closed out the game in Indianapolis with an interception. Willam’s needs teammates to step up around him if the defense is going to get better.
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This could be a question for either side of the ball with the way Dallas has played this season. The offense has fallen off drastically in its use of motion, and the inconsistency has shown. Then, in Week 9, they used it on 65% of their offensive snaps and went for over 500 yards. That needs to continue, but a larger issue has been the impact of motion on the Cowboys’ defense. Dallas has allowed a +0.11 EPA per play against motion, last in the NFL, and San Francisco uses it on 71.5% of their offensive snaps, the highest rate in the league. This could be the biggest challenge for Christian Parker all year.
Two years ago, Dallas was worried about how they would pay the best kicker in the NFL, Brandon Aubrey. Now they might be worried about whether they should’ve paid him at all. He was a 94% accurate kicker as a rookie, dropping to 85% the last two seasons, but this year his field goal percentage is under 80%. He has completely fallen off on kicks of 50 yards or more. Aubrey made 24 of his first 27 attempts over 50 yards, an 89% conversion rate. Things slipped some last year as Nick Sorensen took over as special teams coach.
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Aubrey made only 11 of 17 kicks over 50 yards in 2025, a 25% drop-off, and this season he has made only three of eight attempts. Dallas paid for a kicker who made 80% of his kicks over 50 yards and got one who makes 37.5% since signing him. The answer could be hoping he improves or the head coach allowing the offense to stay on the field to convert on a fourth down instead of attempting longer field goals.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or on YouTube at Across the Cowboys podcast
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Kicking range, motion change among 3 QTNA Cowboys have vs 49ers
