It’s not hard to quantify how important Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers is for the Dallas Cowboys and their hopes in 2026, coach Brian Schottenheimer and his future and possibly the legacy of quarterback Dak Prescott.
At 4-5, the Cowboys need the win to get back to .500 to put some substance is their quest to get back in the race for the NFC East title and take advantage of Thursday’s loss by the first-place New York Giants to Washington Commanders.
It would allow them to finally get on a winning streak with back-to-back wins after last week’s 27-24 victory against the Indianapolis Colts. It would be the only second win streak since Brian Schottenheimer took over last season.
It would have the Cowboys a real chance to gain some momentum with the hapless Tennessee Titans (1-7) and the slumping Philadelphia Eagles (2-7) coming to AT&T Stadium on Nov. 22 and Nov. 26, respectively.
That it would be against the hated 49ers would be like a putting a rocket ship in the Cowboys pants. They have lost four straight games to the 49ers since 2020, including twice in the playoffs.
The Cowboys need to get that monkey off their back.
At 7-1, the 49ers represent the kind of signature win the team needs. It is one Schottenheimer needs. It’s one Prescott, needs giving the recent history.
The Cowboys have only one win against at team with a winning record since Schottenheimer became head coach in 2025.
Not getting it down would be detrimental to the Cowboys season and Schottenheimer’s job security for sure.
And it would remain a black mark on Prescott’s legacy. He is just 2-5 in the playoffs with two of the losses coming against the 49ers.
Whether they admit it or not, they all know it.
“I want to beat them absolutely,” Prescott said. “Obviously I want to get a win and everybody in this building does for a bunch of different reasons. And I’m not naive to what has happened or my history against them. But to put that on the rest of these guys or put that on the locker room, I think that’s stupid.
“This is about us going in and getting a win. And us trying to win this game and get some momentum going and get back-to-back wins for the first time this season and build off of that. So, what a great opportunity to get to do it against a 7-1 team. It just so happens that it be the Niners.”
Owner Jerry Jones is not shy about acknowledging that a win against the 49ers could be a season-changer for his up-and-down Cowboys.
“Yes, I certainly do. Yes, I think that’s kind of what I’ve been alluding to this whole time with you this morning,” Jones said. “It could be dramatic.We should play to our competition. I expect this bunch to do it, but if we should do it successfully, there’s no question it would provide energy as we go forward.
“Well, we have certainly given everybody a big dose of adverse times this year. We’ve been in the foxhole, been shot at and hit. Let’s come out of here and do something that could reverse this against a great team.”
“A lot of people would say, ‘Boy, that’s a bad draw to be playing San Francisco now this Sunday.’ It’s not. It’s important that we have a game like this,” Jones added.
The Cowboys believe they have to talent to get it done against the 49ers.
They just have to do it.
“It would just prove us right,” receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “Just of how we think of ourselves throughout this building. A lot of people would be shocked, obviously, because of the record, and things that have happened leading up to this game. “But for us, we know we haven’t played our best game, and we just got to go out there and do that.
