Back the 49ers in Battle Against Cowboys

Cowboys vs. 49ers, 6:30 ET

The NFL got pretty lucky with these two matchups on Sunday. They have two of the premier franchises in the entire sport squaring off in a matchup with a chance to go to the NFC Championship game. The Cowboys are "America's Team" and have been looking to return to the glory of the 90s. The 49ers have overcome adversity all season and are looking to return to the Super Bowl after just a few years.

The Cowboys looked like legit contenders in their last game against the Buccaneers. They went into Tampa and made Brady look like he should retire. The defense played very well after weeks of struggling to stop basically anyone that they play. One thing that San Francisco does very well is run the ball. The Cowboys have been very good against the run with only 52 yards allowed to opponents on the ground per game. I'm still not convinced everything is perfect for Dallas here. They had to fly from Tampa, to Dallas, to San Francisco, or just clear across the country. Either way, I think that's a problem - just like it will be if the Eagles win and either of these teams has to travel cross country to get there. For this game, though, will Prescott be able to connect with his receivers for four touchdowns? I kind of doubt it. The 49ers defense puts more pressure on opposing quarterbacks and that might make this more of a challenge. The big question is - are they going to send out Brett Maher for extra points after he missed four of them? If this comes down to a field goal, do they trust him?

The 49ers are humming right now. Everything they do seems to turn to gold. Christian McCaffrey has turned into a great pickup for them and someone that is versatile out of the backfield. They are on their third quarterback and haven't missed a beat. After jumping out to a big lead against the Seahawks last week, they did cough it up quite a bit, but responded without really blinking. It was nice to see them face a bit of adversity in this one and for the team to play well. How will they gameplan for a tougher Dallas defense? Seattle wasn't really going to be able to stop anything they do. The Cowboys defense has a good secondary and a solid front line. I think that the 49ers are going to have to rely on dump off passes and short routes. I don't expect their team to get much of an opportunity to get big plays. I think George Kittle needs to have a big game for them to keep breaking Dallas' spirit in this one.

I will buy the 49ers down to -3 at -120. I am not thinking that they are going to coast in this game, but they have a dynamic offense, rest advantage, and home-field advantage. I was wrong about the Cowboys beating the Bucs, but I still don't think they have instantly become world-beaters or anything. They struggled for weeks and Tampa struggled all year, so maybe it was just the case that they beat a bad team. I'll take the 49ers at -3.

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