4 advantages 49ers have over Cowboys in Wild Card round

No. 1: 49ers can hold a slight edge in playoff experience

A little more abstract, perhaps. But it’s certainly something worth pointing out.

For starters, one should probably bank on Dallas being so potent this season despite head coach Mike McCarthy and not necessarily because of him. Kyle Shanahan, for all his own faults, is surely the most trustworthy head coach of the two.

Yet the Niners may hold some modest advantages in the experiences of the postseason, too, namely stemming from the end of the 2019 season that led all the way to Super Bowl LIV.

Blue-chip players like quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, tight end George Kittle, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, EDGE Nick Bosa, linebacker Fred Warner, fullback Kyle Juszczyk and other notable long-term players like defensive tackle Arik Armstead, center Alex Mack, defensive backs Jimmie Ward, Jaquiski Tartt, Emmanuel Moseley and K’Waun Williams all have at least one recent playoff trip in the bag.

The Cowboys have experience in this department, too. Let’s not completely overlook that, as Dallas made it to the divisional round after 2018 with Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper playing leading roles and former head coach Jason Garrett at the helm.

But, is it a viable question to wonder if the moment might be initially too big for younger Cowboys standouts like Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs and CeeDee Lamb?

Perhaps. And if San Francisco leans on its own postseason experience a bit more, it might just have the edge over Dallas in this crucial area.