For a while Sunday, it looked as if the 49ers were a different team.
San Francisco, which had lost its last two games on the road, was back home at Levi’s Stadium, where it had won the season opener over the Rams in convincing fashion and had collected four of its five victories in 2015.
At Levi’s, the 49ers have been a much better team the past two seasons, especially on defense. And that was Sunday’s early trend.
But it didn’t last, as the 49ers fell 24-17 to the Dallas Cowboys.
The 49ers took a 14-0 lead on a 33-yard pass from Blaine Gabbert to Jeremy Kerley in the first quarter and a 3-yard touchdown run by Carlos Hyde in the second quarter.
That, however, was the Niners’ high-water mark.
By halftime, Dallas had tied it 14-14 on a pair of touchdown passes by rookie quarterback Dak Prescott. San Francisco rebounded after halftime with a 36-yard Phil Dawson field goal to go up 17-14, but the Cowboys answered with a 78-yard touchdown drive, capped by Ezekiel Elliott’s 1-yard run, and a 22-yard field goal by Dan Bailey in the fourth quarter for the final 24-17 margin.
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The field goal was set up by a Gabbert interception with 10:52 to go.
The interception was another sore point for the San Francisco offense this season that has mostly picked up yards in small chunks and rarely stretched opposing defenses. With that pick, Gabbert was just 1-for-11 on throws of 20-plus yards in 2016, according to Jeff Deeney of Pro Football Focus.
The 49ers had one last chance, getting the ball back at their own 25 with 4:11 remaining and drove to the Dallas 35. But on fourth-and-6, Gabbert threw short of the first-down marker to Torrey Smith, and the ball went back to the Cowboys.
Gabbert finished 16-of-23 for 196 yards. Hyde had 74 yards rushing on 15 carries. The 49ers’ defense gave up 194 yards rushing, including 138 to Elliott, while Prescott passed for 245 yards and two TDs.
The 49ers now sit at 1-3 and have a short week to prepare for the Cardinals, who come into Levi’s for a Thursday night game (5:25 p.m. kickoff).
