San Francisco 49ers 30, Dallas Cowboys 24: Grades

SANTA CLARA – The San Francisco 49ers narrowly beat the Dallas Cowboys 30:24. Here are the 49ers' grades for this performance.

QUARTERBACK: A

Brock Purdy started the first half shaky as he stood like a statue in the pocket and missed passes he would normally complete. But something changed in him at halftime and he was nearly unstoppable in the second half, especially as a rusher. He finished the game with 56 rushing yards and a touchdown. When teams play man-to-man against him, he can beat them with his legs like he did tonight. He can't win consistently when he's in one place. He has to use his legs.

RUNNING BACKS: A-MINUS

Jordan Mason re-aggravated his shoulder injury and left the game early, which may have been the death knell for the 49ers' run-first offense. Luckily for them, Isaac Guerendo stepped up and scored 85 yards and a touchdown. He also missed a block that led to a devastating sack for Brock Purdy on the 49ers' final possession of the game. That was scary.

Full-back: C-minus

Kyle Juszczyk had one rushing yard, six receiving yards and one holding penalty, meaning he produced minus-3 net yards. A big night for him.

WIDE RECEIVER: B

Deebo Samuel had a 47-yard catch while playing running back against a linebacker. Aside from that play, he didn't do much other than catch a few screen passes, drop a few balls, and leave the game with a rib injury. Rookie Ricky Pearsall caught all four of his targets and gained 39 yards on a jet sweep. He is a weapon in the running game.

TIGHT ENDS: A

George Kittle was the offensive MVP this season. Tonight he had 6 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown. He's on track for his third first-team All-Pro season, meaning he's likely a future Hall of Famer. His backup, Eric Saubert, called a holding penalty that negated a long touchdown catch by Samuel.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: A

They gave up just two sacks and paved the way for 223 yards on the ground. Granted, the Cowboys were missing their best defensive linemen, but the 49ers' O-line still took care of business.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: B-PLUS

Nick Bosa and Sam Okuayinonu each recorded a sack, and together that group shut down the Cowboys' anemic running game. Okuayinonu in particular has been a revelation this season. He is clearly better than Leonard Floyd.

LINEBACKER: B-PLUS

Fred Warner was excellent as always. De'Vondre Campbell played his best game of the season, likely because the Cowboys don't have a speedy running back who can get Campbell going. And Dee Winters left the game with a concussion.

DEFENSE: B

Deommodore Lenoir was outstanding – he intercepted Dak Prescott again. You'd think Prescott would know who Lenoir is by now. He was the 49ers' most improved player this season and one of the defense's MVPs. The 49ers can't extend his contract soon enough. Meanwhile, Charvarius Ward struggled, especially in the fourth quarter. First, he called a 19-yard pass interference penalty on 3rd-and-10 that saved the Cowboys and gave them an automatic first down. Then the 49ers replaced him with Isaac Yiadom for a few games. When Ward returned, the Cowboys were in the red zone, and he immediately gave up a touchdown catch because he was playing zone coverage while the rest of the defense was playing man-to-man. Which means Ward made a mental mistake. On the next drive, safety Ji'Ayir Brown found rookie cornerback Renardo Green and gave up another touchdown catch. Completing games is a big problem for the 49ers.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A

For once they didn't allow a touchdown and Anders Carlsen made all of his kicks. This unit deserves a parade.

TRAINER: C-PLUS

The 49ers came out flat and lost at halftime. Then Kyle Shanahan made the right adjustments at halftime and the 49ers scored 24 unanswered points. That was good Kyle. Then the 49ers almost squandered a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. That was Bad Kyle. With 3:25 left and the 49ers only leading by 6 points, the offense had to face 2nd and 3 and for some strange reason Shanahan called a pass. No one blocked DeMarvion Overshown, who caught Purdy off guard and sacked him. The 49ers are very lucky that Purdy didn't fumble. There was absolutely no reason to pass in this situation. Which means Kyle is almost Kyled. You know exactly what I mean. Luckily for the 49ers, Dak Dak was tougher than Kyle ever could, Kyle.