'Didn't see it coming' - Cowboys at a loss after rout by 49ers - ESPN

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — If Sunday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers was supposed to be a measuring stick for the Dallas Cowboys, then the gap between the teams is ginormous.

The 49ers pinned a 42-10 loss on the Cowboys at Levi's Stadium that left the locker room as silent as it was last January, when San Francisco ended Dallas' season in the divisional round of the playoffs.

«Didn't see it coming,» Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said. «Put everything into it and got punched in the mouth. Called it a couple weeks ago humbling against Arizona, but this may be the most humbling I've ever been a part of. Felt good about the preparation and felt good about everything, honestly, coming into this game, matchups, and they beat us in every aspect.»

It was the second-worst loss of Mike McCarthy's head-coaching career; only a 35-0 shutout against the New England Patriots in his first year with the Green Bay Packers in 2006 was worse. It was the largest defeat of Prescott's career, going back to a 39-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 19, 2017, during his second season as the Cowboys' quarterback.

«It's a punch in the gut, it's a kick in the ass, whatever phrase you want to put on it,» McCarthy said. «We've been knocked down, clearly. They beat us in all three phases. We will clearly acknowledge it. I've never been a burn-the-tape guy. I think that is a crock of s---. We're going to go through it, make sure we're clear on exactly what the expectations are and make sure we're giving the players what they need to be successful. They played extremely well, and we did not.

»I thought we had taken a step as a team. I didn't see this coming. I thought the prep was good this week. I thought we had one of our better Friday