The San Francisco 49ers have dominated recent meetings with the Dallas Cowboys, claiming a pair of playoff victories in the 2021 and 2022 seasons before blowing them out in Week 5 in 2023.

While the Niners are favorites to win in this latest edition of the rivalry, injuries threaten to level the playing field, with San Francisco now shorn of Brandon Aiyuk for the rest of the season and Christian McCaffrey still on the sidelines. George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings are also all nursing injuries.

As such, the defense may be required to do a lot of the heavy lifting to ensure the 49ers get back to .500 ahead of their Week 9 bye and avoid dropping into a 3-5 hole.

Thankfully, in my discussion with A to Z Sports' Cowboys expert Mauricio Rodriguez about the upcoming Sunday Night Football clash, he identified a key reason why the defense may succeed in taking away Dallas' most dangerous offensive weapon.

---

With Jerry Jones' recent tirade in a radio interview, it seems like things are sprialing a little bit in Dallas. How close are things to unraveling with this team?

Pretty close. However, I struggle to see the Cowboys pulling the plug on Mike McCarthy just because they don't have a viable replacement on their coaching staff. 

But I wouldn't be surprised if Dallas ends up selling at the trade deadline with the way things are going. Jerry Jones has been visibly upset over the last few weeks so nothing can be ruled out at this point.

---

The numbers point to a pretty mediocre year for Dak Prescott after a couple of seasons of stellar play, is that reflective of how he's been performing?

Prescott is certainly not playing at the All-Pro level he was last year but context is important. 

The Cowboys lack a running game to help him out and the pass protection is mediocre at best at this point. Additionally, the play-calling is highly questionable at times, as the offense is just now starting to implement some motion. 

Troy Aikman recently called the receivers' route running "terrible" and "lazy." So it's more of a collective issue for Dallas. Prescott is still the biggest reason for optimism but he's made a lot of mistakes as well.

---

What about CeeDee Lamb? He doesn't seem to be firing on all cylinders this season. Do you still view him as somebody who could take over this game?

On paper, he could take over any game. But the Cowboys have failed to get him involved for an entire game this season, so I'll be skeptical until they prove they can get it done. 

Prescott and Lamb have had an unusual amount of instances where they're not on the same page, with miscommunications resulting in incompletions and even interceptions at times. They need to clean it up, hopefully for them, the bye week should've helped.

---

The defense appears to be really struggling under Mike Zimmer. Injuries obviously haven't helped, but what's been the primary reason beyond health that's contributed to the struggles on that side of the ball?

Cowboys players and coaches have talked about people wanting to play hero ball and being undisciplined. 

You see players on film not filling their gaps and opening up run lanes. Additionally, their defensive tackle play has been some of the worst in the league this season, leaving linebackers in tough spots consistently. Tackling has been suspect, too.

Kyle Shanahan indicates when 49ers are hoping to open Christian McCaffrey’s practice window

He’s still on schedule.