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Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Entering Sunday’s matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, the San Francisco 49ers had won 72 consecutive games when leading by 17-plus points entering the fourth quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out to open the fourth quarter Sunday night, it appeared the Niners would extend that streak to 73 with relative ease.
While they eventually did, the fact they had to squeak out a 30-24 win rather than surging to a convincing victory raised some alarm bells for a team that has coughed up double-digit fourth-quarter leads twice already this season.
“I was frustrated,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “We made it a game when it didn’t need to be, especially defensively. Freebies, you know, where they didn’t have to earn it … We can’t let it happen, so we put ourselves in that situation so we had to get ourselves out. It was about going out there and finishing the game.”
In fewer than five minutes of game time, the Niners watched as their lead dwindled from 27-10 to 30-24. The 49ers went three-and-out after Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb scored an easy 20-yard touchdown, giving the Cowboys the ball and a chance to win with 3:05 to go.
On the sideline, a furious Warner let his defensive teammates know that the miscommunications and blown coverages that allowed Dallas to quickly claw back into the game were unacceptable. Thoughts of earlier letdowns in losses to the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams ran through their heads.
This time, however, the 49ers defense bowed up, forcing four consecutive Dak Prescott incompletions to get the ball back and put the game away.
“Really, our captain (Warner), he was just expressing to us this is not fixing to happen again and we are going to win this game on defense,” cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said. “That was a big testimony to us finishing. What we’ve needed to do this whole season.”
For the Niners to be in position to even their record at 4-4, though, the onus on Sunday night fell largely in the lap of an offense trying to generate points without injured stars such as running back Christian McCaffrey (Achilles tendinitis) and receivers Brandon Aiyuk (torn ACL and MCL in his right knee) and Jauan Jennings (hip).
As though that wasn’t enough, San Francisco lost running back Jordan Mason to a left shoulder injury and receiver Deebo Samuel to a rib injury during the game. That left all eyes on star tight end George Kittle, who was dealing with a sprained foot that limited him in practice all week and had him listed as questionable entering the game.
Despite Kittle’s obvious importance to the offense, he still managed to deliver a big performance in a game the Niners had to have. It also just so happened to occur on the “holiday” Kittle invented in 2019 that celebrates those who play his favorite position: tight end.
“He’s a warrior,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “There’s a lot of guys in this league who wouldn’t play through the things he plays through every year. And for him to play the best tight end in the league on national tight ends day while he’s battling things, just shows how much of a beast he is.”
Kittle finished with six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown, reaching the century mark for the 18th time in his career, the third-most 100-yard receiving games by a player in franchise history.
In addition, Kittle reached 500 career receptions, pushing him into fifth place in franchise history in that category and past Gene Washington and Dwight Clark to climb into third place on the franchise’s all time receiving yards list (6,777). He trails only Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens.
“(I’m) just thankful that I got to be a part of an organization with a very high standard in how they play football,” Kittle said. “Thankful that they’ve kept me around for a long time and just every single day striving to be better than I was the before and continually prove that I need to be on the San Francisco 49ers roster.”
Including the playoffs, the win was San Francisco’s fourth in a row against Dallas, its longest streak against the Cowboys since winning six straight from 1981-1990.
Now, they look ahead to a much-needed bye that they hope will bring key players like McCaffrey, Jennings and kicker Jake Moody (sprained right ankle) back to the fold in time for the Nov. 10 meeting with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The extra down time also figures to be beneficial for the 49ers who suffered injuries on Sunday, including Mason, Samuel, cornerback Renardo Green (ankle) and linebacker Dee Winters (concussion).
By the time they get back to business, the Niners could also have some new additions. Since Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over in 2017, the 49ers have made at least one pre-deadline trade in every season except 2018.
With the deadline set for Nov. 5, the 49ers figure to again be on the lookout for reinforcements, particularly along the defensive line.
No matter the case, the 49ers hope Sunday’s narrow win combined with the upcoming time off will be the recipe that propels them to another deep postseason run.
“We can be whoever we want,” Warner said. “Honestly, I think it’s after the bye, it’s 0-0. We’re at .500 right now. I think we’re a game back from being first in the division … but we have everything ahead of us.”