Cowboys look dominant again, but the real test is waiting in San Francisco

More than eight months have passed since the San Francisco 49ers knocked the Dallas Cowboys out of last year's playoffs — just another in a string of seasons that ended too soon. To many, it was just another, familiar, unhappy ending.

To Dak Prescott, it was a lot more personal than that.

"It's obvious," Prescott said on Sunday, when asked about remembering his last game against the 49ers. "I mean, we're so far past that, to be honest with you, that's obvious. You just want to piss me off going into this week, and I appreciate that. I do, actually. I do. I appreciate that."

Not that anyone in Dallas needed any motivation heading into their game next Sunday night against the undefeated 49ers (4-0) in San Francisco, but the game is far more than a chance for revenge for the Cowboys (3-1) after their 19-12 loss in the divisional round last year. It's a showdown between the NFC's two most dominant teams through the first quarter of the NFL season.

And for the Cowboys, who have mostly beaten up on a soft schedule of teams with a combined 4-11 record, it's the first real test to see if they're the Super Bowl contenders they think they are.

"This is the top NFC team," said Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons. "I think us, Philly and the 49ers. This is a playoff game. This is something you look forward to. It's going to be a test. It's going to be back and forth. It's going to go down to the wire."

"A win in San Francisco would be magnificent," added Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. "I just think a win against that team would feel like you're playing for the marbles."

Not all of them, of course. It's still only Week 5 and the Cowboys will have their hands full in their own division with two games later this season against the equally dangerous Philadelphia Eagles (4-0). But there are enough marbles at stake in this prime-time game to see how many the Cowboys have in their own bag.

So far, there's just no way to tell. They have utterly destroyed three mediocre-to-bad teams — crushing the New York Giants 40-0, pounding the New York Jets 30-10 and humiliating the New England Patriots 38-3 in the worst loss Bill Belichick has ever had as a head coach. Their defense has been smothering with 14 sacks and 10 turnovers, while Prescott has cast off his interception-prone 2022 season and thrown only one so far this year.

Even though the Cowboys lost 28-16 in Arizona last week — a loss that is increasingly hard to explain — they have clearly looked like one of the NFL's elite teams, capable of deep run through January and February. And they're doing it despite an offense that even Prescott described as "pretty efficient, but still not to our standard, honestly."

Most concerning is their red-zone offense, which has become one of the worst in the NFL. They've scored only seven touchdowns on 19 of their trips inside their opponents' 20 so far.

They'll have to do better — much better — against a 49ers team that has a top-five offense and defense, and one of the NFL's best weapons in running back Christian McCaffrey, who has 600 combined yards from scrimmage this season and seven touchdowns.

What the Cowboys can't do, if they want to be taken seriously as contenders the rest of the way, is what they did last Jan. 22 when they flew out west off a 12-5 regular season and a big win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round. The Dallas offense was a no-show that day with just 282 yards. Prescott threw two interceptions, including one in the red zone, leading to six 49er points. They lost 19-12.

Clearly, that has stuck with them through the offseason and their first four games. There have been plenty of unceremonious endings like that during the Cowboys' 27-year Super Bowl drought. Prescott has even experienced seven of his own, including four in the playoffs.

They won't be able to exorcise those demons until January, and they won't be able to truly do it unless they reach Super Bowl LVIII. So maybe this isn't really "for all the marbles" just yet. But it's still a test and a chance for them to prove to the world and themselves that they're a different team than the one that fell apart in the playoffs, that they really are a true contender and that this year really is different.

They've been waiting for this test, too, ever since that long flight home from San Francisco. Asked how much that loss drives these Cowboys, how often he thinks about it, Prescott had a quick and easy answer.

"Every day," he said. "Every day."

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.