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Cowboys, 49ers trade turnovers on bizarre, back-to-back fumble recoveries involving Christian McCaffrey, Tony Pollard

Jason Owens
·Staff writer
·2 min read
Dallas Cowboys DB Jourdan Lewis (2) came out of this play with possession of the ball. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Footballs take funny bounces.

Those bounces can make a big impact on games, as demonstrated during the San Francisco 49ers' 42-10 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

With the 49ers leading, 7-0 late in the first quarter, Cowboys running back Tony Pollard ran a first-down sweep from deep in Dallas territory. He picked up nine yards, appearing to get the Cowboys out of a hole. But Fred Warner had other ideas. The 49ers linebacker punched the ball loose at the end of the run near the left sideline.

The ball appeared destined to roll out of bounds. Instead, it ping-ponged off multiple players who all fell out of bounds while the ball remained in the field of play. Then, as it rolled within inches of the sideline, the ball took a cockeyed turn upfield, where a trailing Kevin Givens was happy to scoop it up. The 49ers defensive lineman snagged it and secured possession in the very moment before his arm touched the sideline to whistle the play dead with the ball in possession of the 49ers.

Basically everything had to go right and did for the 49ers. Replay confirmed that the ball belonged to the 49ers. But they didn't capitalize thanks to a bizarre turnover of their own two plays later, courtesy of a fumble by All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey near the goal line.

On this one, McCaffrey barreled over Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis as he tried to break the plane for a touchdown. Instead, he landed on top of Lewis, who stripped the ball from McCaffrey for a fumble and a recovery. Because McCaffrey landed on top of Lewis instead of the ground, he wasn't down, and the play stood.

Like the 49ers, the Cowboys didn't capitalize on their forced fumble. They punted after gaining two yards on three plays, setting the 49ers up with good field position. The 49ers took advantage this time with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Brock Purdy to George Kittle on the first play of the drive.

After all that, the 49ers took a 14-0 lead.