It's not a must-win game, but Brock Purdy and the 49ers need to get back on track against the Cowboys, and there are reasons to believe they will.
Week 7's lopsided loss to the Kansas City Chiefs revealed the San Francisco 49ers are nowhere near in the same class as the reigning Super Bowl champions.
Sure, the Niners have been beset by a serious rash of injuries this season, but that fate has also hit a number of other top contenders across the league, yet San Francisco has largely failed to match upper-echelon levels of play.
Now, at 3-4 and riding the last spot in the NFC West, the 49ers need to pull off a win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football to get back to the .500 mark before their Week 9 bye.
Dallas, coming off its own bye, has had a slew of problems, too. And Niners fans won't soon forget the 42-10 beatdown their team handed the Cowboys a year ago, easily hoping for a similar outcome for quarterback Brock Purdy and Co. again this season in Week 8.
Purdy, who was borderline atrocious against KC and had one of his worst games ever as a pro, needs to bounce back in the biggest way possible. So must the rest of San Francisco's offense.
Fortunately, there are plenty of signs this is likely. Here are three of them, particularly centering around Dallas' defensive weaknesses.
Reason No. 1: Cowboys give up a ton of points
The Cowboys are the second-worst team in the NFL in points allowed this season (168). Twice already, head coach Mike McCarthy's squad has surrendered 40-plus points: Week 2 versus the New Orleans Saints and Week 6 versus the Detroit Lions.
True, Dallas has held three different opponents to less than 20 points on the year, but one can't exactly call those teams (the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers) offensive juggernauts.
Against the pass, the Cowboys are giving up an average of 6.9 yards per play, 27th in the league, suggesting that Purdy's own lack of offensive weaponry, due to injury attrition, might not be as big a worry as it was the previous week against Kansas City's top-notch secondary.
Tack on the fact Dallas might very well be without star edge defender, Micah Parsons (ankle), and there are good reasons to suspect Purdy and the 49ers won't struggle as much to put points on the scoreboard.
Reason No. 2: Cowboys don't force many interceptions
Purdy had an uncharacteristic three-interception game against the Chiefs in Week 7, which nearly tied his career-worst game a season ago against the Baltimore Ravens in which he tossed four picks.
One shouldn't expect the signal-caller to be so turnover-prone against the Cowboys, though.
Sure, Purdy's interception percentage is up to 3.2 this year from 2.5 a season ago. But Dallas boasts a mere four interceptions on the season, tied for 19th most across the league and not particularly great an indication of being able to force turnovers.
Speaking of general turnovers, the Cowboys have a mere five total takeaways over six games.
True, the Niners have been prone to turning the ball over this season. But they'll be fortunate not to face a ballhawking defense on Sunday night.
Reason No. 3: 49ers should be able to run the ball effectively
A strategy many opponents are deploying against San Francisco's offense of late is to stack the box, cut down on running back Jordan Mason's rushing lanes and force Purdy to take risks by dropping back and hitting targets outside the numbers.
Kansas City excelled at this. But Dallas likely won't achieve quite the same success.
The Cowboys are allowing an average of 143 rush yards per game this season, 27th overall, which suggests Mason could be in line to have one of those games similar to his production early in the season when he was a regular threat to reach 100 yards on the ground.
If that's possible, Purdy can go back to playing within the offense, relying on the ground game to set up play action and giving the quarterback's passing targets better chances to separate.
This is the proverbial "bread and butter" behind Purdy's initial NFL success, and reverting back to that style of offense against a bad Dallas defense could help the signal-caller get back into a rhythm.
The 49ers and Cowboys kick off on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 8:20 p.m. ET from Levi's Stadium.