FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys emerged from their bye week seemingly looking like a different team against the San Francisco 49ers, but it was a mere sugar hit.
A brutal second half saw the 49ers score 21 unanswered points in the third quarter, thanks partly to a Dak Prescott interception to kill off the contest en route to a misleading 30-24 win at Levi's Stadium.
The 49ers were in complete control before the Cowboys and Prescott mounted a comeback, which fell short.
Before the game, our Adam Schultz diagramed three storylines to follow. How did they play out? His analysis ...
1. How is Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb's chemistry? Lamb totaled four receptions for 25 yards in the first quarter and managed seven receptions for 48 yards at halftime.
But in the third quarter, Lamb had just one target and one reception for six yards, and it wasn't until 10:54 left in the fourth quarter that he got another target.
However, the pair took advantage of the soft 49ers defense to have connections of 15, seven, 21, 29, and 20 yards with two touchdowns.
It started bumpy, but things got cooking late. ... and yet even with Lamb's 13 catches and two TDs, it really wasn't even close to enough.
2. How involved will Dalvin Cook be? In short, not very.
In his Cowboys debut, Dalvin would have just six carries for 12 yards and one reception for 10 yards.
The run game only mustered 56 yards, and with the game close until the third quarter, McCarthy can't use any game script excuses for not getting more attempts.
Elliott had more attempts than Cook. Make of that what you will.
3. How will Dallas be mentally? In the first half, on both sides of the ball there was a real willingness to be physical and in a sense, Dallas almost relished it.
Some push and shove, along with coordinator Mike Zimmer's defense stopping the 49ers run game cold in the first half made the bye week teachings look good.
But Dallas fell apart in the third quarter, as whatever benefits came from the bye week and across-the-hall meetings faded,
The late-game fight to make things interesting was a pleasing aspect. But again, the Cowboys showed they have so many things wrong with their team that just listing these three seem like a glimpse at the tip of an iceberg.
