Dallas has its own list. George Pickens sat out the Colts game with a hamstring, so Ryan Flournoy moved up to No. 2 receiver and made a 46-yard catch on the winning drive. Jake Ferguson hurt his knee in that game and P.J. Locke has a concussion. Joey Porter Jr. and DeMarvion Overshown were both inactive, which leaves a defense already missing pieces facing the best team on its schedule. Brian Schottenheimer's message after the Colts game: "The best way to learn how to win is to win."
The 49ers have won 4 of their last 5, and the only loss was a 29-20 game in Atlanta. The Raiders game was a 2nd half of takeaways that turned a game into a rout: San Francisco forced 5 turnovers and scored off them. Dallas has gone 2-3 over its last 5. The 38-21 win in Philadelphia looks like the best game the Cowboys have played this year, but it sits between home losses to Tampa Bay and Arizona. That's a team that can give up 33 at home and score 38 on the road within a week.
For Dallas, the formula is clear even if it hasn't been reliable: get Lamb loose against whatever corners San Francisco has left, and keep running the ball the way Williams and Tyler Goodson did against the Colts, 178 combined yards at 5.6 a carry. For San Francisco, it's what has worked all year. Christian McCaffrey scored on the ground and through the air against Las Vegas, George Kittle is healthy, and Jordan Watkins caught all 4 of his targets for 86 yards and a score. The 49ers are clearly the better team. What decides this one is whether a short-handed secondary can keep up with the hottest receiver in the league indoors.
