5 reasons 49ers won Wild Card matchup vs. Cowboys
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: 49ers held Cowboys to just 77 rush yards
True, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott might not be the powerhouse runner he was earlier in his career, but he’s still a 1,000-yard force. And, just like the Niners’ own offense, Dallas can do a lot of damage when it establishes its run game behind Elliott and fellow running back Tony Pollard.
When the ground game is working, the Cowboys offense becomes even more potent and managed to finish the regular season ranked No. 1 overall.
A key element for San Francisco, though, was to hold Dallas to less than 100 yards rushing, a trend the 49ers have done well ever since Week 10, having allowed an opponent to reach that mark just once since that point.
In total, the Cowboys rushed for just 77 yards, while Elliott and Pollard were held to averages of 2.6 and 3.5 yards on the ground, respectively.
While it got scary at times, sure, a one-dimensional approach by Dallas forced quarterback Dak Prescott to rely heavily on the passing game.
And the Niners had an answer for that, too. At least partially.