Sanfran throttled back and played the clock. If need be they could have made this game more embarrassing than it was.
We are that bad.
Yes the Niners did throttle back, but: the Cowboys DID EARN two golden TD opportunities before turning the ball over. And handed the 49ers a TD advantage to begin with. And the Cowboys earned a three and out on the opening SF possession of the 3rd Q. We never saw the shootout that potentially was there. We never put SF in a position to play tight or to choke themselves.
The two sides of the envelope are there. We could have played better and made the game much more interesting, they potentially could have run up the score but instead protected the lead we GAVE them basically.
The 49ers were never forced to play their best ball. That's a problem. A big one.
The result? 28-17 Niners. I'm comfortable with the result, uncomfortable with the Cowboys inability to make any kind of headway in any particular season with Garrett/Romo and Co.