Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers NFC Divisional Round Betting Preview

For the ninth time in history, the Cowboys and 49ers are meeting in the postseason. The winner of this playoff matchup has gone on to win the Super Bowl five times, so when these teams play in January, the stakes are high.

Cowboys Find Themselves in Tampa Bay

It’s not just that Dallas beat the Buccaneers. It’s that the Cowboys looked like a complete team in beating the Bucs. The Week 18 struggles against Washington, and Dak Prescott’s problems with throwing interceptions, felt like issues from another era. The team that played Monday night was entirely different.

Prescott played his best game since throwing five touchdowns against the Eagles in 2021. Micah Parsons was back to living in the opposing team’s backfield. Kicker Brett Maher had the worst game of his career, but the rest of the team was so dominant that Maher’s extra point blues became nothing more serious than a meme.

It was the first Cowboys playoff win on the road since 1993. Now the other ignominious playoff blemish - not getting beyond the Divisional Round since 1995 - is within the Cowboys’ reach.

The Legend of Brock Purdy Grows

It deserves remembering that Jimmy Garopollo played in one Super Bowl and was within a field goal of making another, and yet after one game, Brock Purdy has as many career postseason touchdowns as the quarterback he replaced.

At this point, it is clear that the health of Garoppolo doesn’t matter. Purdy isn’t giving up QB1. Even though he wasn’t as on in the first half against Seattle as he had been in the final month of the regular season, he finished with four total touchdowns, 332 yards passing, and a passer rating of 131.5.

The 49ers were sweating it a little bit at halftime against Seattle, but like they did during their 10-game regular season winning streak to end the year, they were able to turn it on when it matters most, and in the end, the game wasn’t close. No one is playing better football than San Francisco, and it shows every time they take the field.

San Francisco leads the NFL in defensive points allowed and yards allowed, while on offense, they are averaging nearly 28 points per game.

Cowboys vs. 49ers Matchup

This game is strength on strength - the fourth-highest scoring offense in the NFL, even without Amari Cooper this season, vs. Nick Bosa, the likely Defensive Player of the Year, and the league’s best defense.

San Francisco is now on an 11-game winning streak, while the Cowboys have lost three games since the Niners last lost - to the Packers, Jaguars, and Commanders.

The 49ers are favored by 3.5 points, and during their winning streak, they have covered the point spread in nine of the 11 wins. Eight of those wins were by more than double digits.

The Cowboys are just 3-3 against the spread in their last six, beginning with a near-miss loss to the Houston Texans in Week 14.