Cowboys vs. 49ers live score, updates, highlights from NFL ‘Sunday Night Football’ game

By | October 8, 2023
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The 49ers ended the Cowboys’ season in Santa Clara less than nine months ago. A year earlier, they ended their season in Dallas. A win on Sunday night for the Cowboys wouldn’t make up for those losses, but it might allow the team to put some old demons behind them ahead of what could be a special run in January.

While Dallas has looked dominant for much of the season’s first four weeks, the 49ers are the team entering Sunday night with an unbeaten record. San Francisco is 4-0, and Brock Purdy still hasn’t lost a regular-season game as an NFL starter.

The Cowboys’ defense has shut down the Patriots, Jets and Giants, but limiting an offense that has big-time weapons all over the field is an entirely different challenge.

The 49ers haven’t lost at home since Week 7 of last season, when Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs put up a 44-point effort. Before that, you would have to go all the way back to Nov. 7, 2021 to find San Francisco’s last home loss.

The Chiefs proved it last season: It takes a Super Bowl contender to knock off a healthy 49ers team in Santa Clara. Are the Cowboys up to that level? Owner Jerry Jones believes Sunday’s game will give the answer, as he told 105.3 The Fan that it will show how Dallas stacks up against the team he considers “the most likely” to win Super Bowl 58.

MORE: Watch Cowboys vs. 49ers with Fubo (free trial)

The Sporting News is tracking live scoring updates and highlights from “Sunday Night Football” between the Cowboys and 49ers. Follow along with all of the key moments below.

Cowboys vs. 49ers final score

   1   2   3   4   F 
Cowboys 0 7 3 0 –
49ers 7 14 7 14 –

Cowboys vs. 49ers results, highlights from ‘Sunday Night Football’

(All times Eastern)

49ers 42, Cowboys 10

10:53 p.m. TOUCHDOWN — And just like that, Jordan Mason runs in for another 49ers touchdown! This is ugly on all levels for the Cowboys, and Leighton Vander Esch is now down as well. 42-10, 49ers.

10:52 p.m. INTERCEPTION — Fred Warner now has a sack, forced fumble and an interception tonight. A pass from Prescott is deflected into his hands, and the 49ers have another instant scoring opportunity.

49ers 35, Cowboys 10

10:47 p.m. TOUCHDOWN — Purdy hits Kyle Juszczyk for the 49ers’ fifth touchdown of the night. That’s four touchdowns for Purdy alone, and San Francisco is pouring it all on the Cowboys.

End of third quarter: 49ers 28, Cowboys 10

10:43 p.m. — San Francisco is moving the ball inch-by-inch now, and the ‘Niners are a yard away from making this a 25-point game.

10:38 p.m. — The 49ers are on the verge of entering the red zone after a 19-yard catch by Jauan Jennings. Purdy is up to 242 yards to go along with his three touchdowns.

10:32 p.m. INTERCEPTION — Prescott heaves it downfield under pressure and it’s intercepted by Tashaun Gipson. For a Cowboys team that has embarrassed a few opponents this year, they might be on the bad end of an ugly game here.

49ers 28, Cowboys 10

10:27 p.m. TOUCHDOWN — Not one, not two, THREE touchdowns for George Kittle. The 49ers have everything working offensively tonight, and any Kittle fantasy owners are thrilled.

10:25 p.m. — Aiyuk’s loss is Deebo Samuel’s gain. Samuel goes 43 yards on the very next play, which tells you how automatic the 49ers’ offense is right now. San Francisco is in the red zone looking to make this a three-score game. 

10:23 p.m. — An offensive holding call wipes out a 40-yard gain from Aiyuk. Wow. That’s a momentum swing. Spencer Burford is the culprit. 

10:21 p.m. — The Purdy-to-Aiyuk connection continues to get stronger. Aiyuk goes for 23 yards to give the 49ers some breathing room after opening their drive with a false start.

49ers 21, Cowboys 10

10:17 p.m. FIELD GOAL — The 49ers’ defense tightens the screws and limits Dallas to a field goal. Brandon Aubrey drills it from 50 yards out, and it’s down to a 21-10 lead for San Francisco.

10:13 p.m. — Prescott hits CeeDee Lamb for a big 29-yard gain. That quickly takes the Cowboys into 49ers territory to start the second half. 

End of first half: 49ers 21, Cowboys 7

9:58 p.m. — San Francisco’s defense is all over the Cowboys yet again. It’s Dre Greenlaw’s turn to sack Prescott, and Dallas is waving the white flag on the half. They’ll start the second half with the ball.

9:56 p.m. — 49ers edge rusher Drake Jackson is walking off after requiring some medical attention on the field.

9:52 p.m. — The 49ers tried to put something together, but a third down pass to Aiyuk was too low. Dallas has a minute to try and get something before halftime.

9:45 p.m. — The Cowboys looked better on third down on their last drive, but Prescott’s third down pass to Ferguson is short of the line to gain and ends this drive quickly. The 49ers will have a couple minutes to blow this game open before halftime.

49ers 21, Cowboys 7

9:38 p.m. TOUCHDOWN — McCaffrey pushes through for the touchdown. That’s his 14th consecutive game finding the end zone, and it puts the ‘Niners back up two scores.

9:37 p.m. — Deebo Samuel takes some big hits but gets the 49ers down to the one-yard line. San Francisco is knocking on the door again. 

9:35 p.m. — The Cowboys had done a pretty nice job of containing McCaffrey to this point, but the former Pro-Bowler takes a screen pass for 19 yards to push the Niners to the edge of the red zone.

9:31 p.m. — Aiyuk with a quick 15-yard catch to start the 49ers’ drive. He’s up to 35 yards on three catches. 

49ers 14, Cowboys 7

9:27 p.m. TOUCHDOWN — KaVontae Turpin flashes his speed, gets separation, and hauls in Prescott’s pass in the end zone! A perfectly drawn-up 26-yard play puts Dallas right back in this game.

9:24 p.m. — Prescott hits Jake Ferguson for a big third down conversion, and then some. That’s 20 yards.

9:23 p.m. — Tony Pollard has had a tough night so far, with just 10 yards on six touches.

9:22 p.m. — Prescott fires a nice pass to Cooks to give the Cowboys another first down. 

9:20 p.m. — The Cowboys have a first down! And it only took 17+ minutes. Dallas is still operating in its own territory, but it feels like points are needed on this drive to keep the game within reach. 

49ers 14, Cowboys 0

9:14 p.m. TOUCHDOWN — That was quick! Purdy hits Kittle after some trickery, and it’s a two-score night for the tight end. 49ers lead, 14-0.

9:13 p.m. — The Cowboys are forced to punt out of their own end zone after Fred Warner sacks Prescott. Warner now has a sack and a fumble. The 49ers will have strong field position. 

9:10 p.m. FUMBLE — Oh no again! They’re trading fumbles! Jourdan Lewis takes the ball right out of McCaffrey’s arms and spoils the 49ers’ hopes of making this a 14-0 game.

End of first quarter: 49ers 7, Cowboys 0

9:04 p.m. — Confirmed: 49ers ball. San Francisco has an instant opportunity here.

9:01 p.m. FUMBLE — Oh no! Pollard gets the ball knocked out deep in the Cowboys’ own territory, and it looks like it was recovered by the 49ers. Officials are checking to make sure nobody was out of bounds, but that ball was very much out of Pollard’s control. The 49ers could be set up in the red zone.

8:59 p.m. — The drive completely falls apart for the 49ers. A delay of game penalty sets San Francisco back, and Christian McCaffrey is dropped for a five-yard loss on 3rd & 15. Not allowing even a field goal is a huge win for Dallas. 

8:56 p.m. — The 49ers are excelling on third down early in this game, and Purdy flips it to Kyle Juszczyk to keep the Niners’ drive alive on 3rd & 1. 

8:54 p.m. — Now Kearse lines up offsides… That extends the drive for the 49ers, who aren’t moving as freely as they were on that opening drive.

8:50 p.m. — Jayron Kearse comes through with the Cowboys’ first sack of the night, but Deebo Samuel makes up 11 of the 12 yards San Francisco needs on the next play.

8:46 p.m. — There’s the first catch of the night for Lamb, but he doesn’t get the first down and Dak Prescott is sacked by Nick Bosa to quickly end the drive. This 49ers defense has picked up right where it left off against the Cowboys in January.

8:44 p.m. — Dallas’ second drive starts out with Tony Pollard getting dropped for a loss.

8:40 p.m. — Big-time stop by the Cowboys’ defense as Johnathan Hankins deflects Purdy’s third down pass with his helmet and forces a punt. 

8:36 p.m. — The 49ers’ defense was all over Dallas on that drive. Three plays, two incompletions, and now the Cowboys will punt it right back.

49ers 7, Cowboys 0

8:30 p.m. TOUCHDOWN — Purdy finds a wide open Kittle in the end zone for the score! That was a well-scripted opening drive by Kyle Shanahan, and San Francisco has an early 7-0 lead.

8:27 p.m. — A little bit of chaos as Deebo Samuel drops a ball that was pretty close to being a fumble, but it’s all a non-issue as Dallas is hit with an offsides penalty. The 49ers are right about in field goal range.

8:25 p.m. — After a facemask penalty and a nine-yard pass to Brandon Aiyuk, the 49ers are already over midfield.

8:23 p.m. — Kickoff is a bit on the later end, but we are about to get underway. The 49ers will start with the ball. 

8:10 p.m. — Jerry Jones said this week that this game will be a test of how the Cowboys match up with the NFL’s best, as if there wasn’t already pressure on Dallas to show something after the 49ers knocked them out of the playoffs in back-to-back years.

7:56 p.m. — Frank Gore and Vernon Davis are in the house! A couple greats from the 49ers’ last golden era under Jim Harbaugh. 

7:36 p.m. — CeeDee Lamb is coming off back-to-back games with only four catches. Is he due for a huge performance tonight?

7:11 p.m. — New 49ers acquisition Randy Gregory is officially inactive against his former team. 

7:01 p.m. — The Eagles are going to win in Los Angeles, so the 49ers need a win to keep pace atop the NFC. After they had to play the last two NFC championship games on the road, the No. 1 seed is undoubtedly in the back of their minds.

6:45 p.m. — The run of great prime-time weather continues, as it’s set to be in the high 70s and sunny in Santa Clara tonight. No excuses for these powerful offenses.

What channel is Cowboys vs. 49ers on today?

  • Game: Cowboys vs. 49ers
  • Date: Sunday, Oct. 8
  • TV channel: NBC
  • Live stream: Peacock | NBCSports.com | Fubo (U.S.) | DAZN (Canada)

Cowboys vs, 49ers can be watched on NBC, which has long held the broadcast rights to “Sunday Night Football.”

Mike Tirico (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (color analyst) will be on the call from Levi’s Stadium while Melissa Stark will serve as the sideline reporter. The crew is entering their second season together after Tirico replaced play-by-play legend Al Michaels while Stark took over for Michele Tafoya.

Fans can also stream the game via Peacock or NBCSports.com with a subscription, along with Fubo, which offers a free trial. 

Viewers in Canada can stream every NFL game via DAZN.

Cowboys vs. 49ers start time

  • Date: Sunday, Oct. 8
  • Start time: 8:20 p.m. ET (5:20 p.m. CT)

Sunday night’s game between the Cowboys and 49ers is set to kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET (5:20 p.m. local time) from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

The 49ers and Cowboys have a long history with one another, but San Francisco has gotten the better of Dallas in each of their last two meetings. The 49ers knocked the Cowboys out of the playoffs in both of the last two seasons, so a win for Dallas on Sunday could be helpful just from a psychological standpoint.

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