SANTA CLARA — The 49ers are 7-1, their quarterback is in the MVP conversation, and they just went out and got Keenan Allen. Now they go to Dallas.
Kickoff is Sunday at 1:25 p.m. Pacific at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on FOX. The Cowboys are 4-5 and coming off a late comeback win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Brock Purdy’s case
Quarterback Brock Purdy has thrown for 1,980 yards and 17 touchdowns against five interceptions in eight games. The 49ers are scoring 29.4 points a game. That’s the résumé that has his name near the top of the MVP race at the halfway mark.
Across the field, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has 2,381 yards and 16 touchdowns. Dallas can score. Stopping people has been the problem. The Cowboys give up 26.2 points a game.
Fred Warner and a defense that takes the ball
Linebacker Fred Warner was all over the Raiders last Sunday. He forced one fumble and recovered another in the end zone as the 49ers took the ball away five times in the second half of a 38-17 win. “It’s important for the Bay,” Warner said afterward.
Help at wide receiver
The 49ers traded a sixth-round pick to the Colts for wide receiver Keenan Allen, a six-time Pro Bowler. They needed him. Christian Kirk is on injured reserve. Mike Evans, the big offseason addition, had 27 catches for 430 yards and three touchdowns in six games before he was hurt against Washington, and he is listed as questionable. So is Deebo Samuel Sr., who went down early in the season and is expected back at practice this week. Brandon Aiyuk has been reinstated to the roster. Cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green are questionable too.
Dallas has its own list. Wide receiver George Pickens and tight end Jake Ferguson are both questionable.
The history
The 49ers lead the all-time series 21-19-1 and have won the last four meetings.
One more thing
A friend of this newspaper lives in Cowboys country. Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes III, Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas and Congressman-elect for Texas’s 30th District, stood in the pulpit at Third Baptist Church in September for our Black Men: Celebrating Change Makers program. Congratulations again, Rev. Dr. Haynes. On Sunday, though, San Francisco is coming to your town for a win.
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