Niners move on after what they did to America’s Team
It gets down to a two-word description: America’s Team.
So arrogant. So irritating. Unless you’re the designated franchise, the Dallas Cowboys.
To which we now may add, so overrated.
The label was created in 1979 by a self-indulgent team public relations man for a highlight film and was used continually on national TV, when the Cowboys were winning championships, which they might not do lately but still win the attention of ESPN.
That game Sunday, the mismatch at Levi’s Stadium, final score, 42-10, was treated by many across the NFL landscape as not so much a 49ers victory as a Cowboys defeat.
What it was for Niners coach Kyle Shanahan was an opportunity to gloat, at least in a subtle manner.
So much on the tube and in the dailies on the Cowboys. So much from Dallas owner Jerry Jones. All right, already.
As Shanahan may not have said directly in his post-game comments yet certainly implied that the Niners coach knew what he had, a potential champion. And an all-encompassing audience, prime weekend time.
“This was our biggest game this year,” he said.
No warnings about what’s in the future. No giving credit to the opponent.
Just an embrace of the obvious domination (421 yards total offense to 197) that verified the Niners’ defense is every bit as good as it needs to be and the offense may be better than believed.
San Francisco both shut down the Cowboys and shut up their all-too-boisterous supporters.
“Our guys were ready,” said Shanahan. Asked to comment on quarterback Brock Purdy, who threw four touchdown passes, Shanahan offered not a scintilla of doubt. “All our guys were good,” he conceded.
Tight end George Kittle caught three touchdown passes for the first time in his career as if to balance the three touchdowns scored a week earlier against Arizona by Christian McCaffrey, who Sunday had one to extend his team record streak of consecutive games with TDs to 14.
“We’re pretty good!” said one of the Niners offensive lineman.
How good still is to be determined (12 games remain for the Niners in the regular season). Only the 1972 Miami Dolphins completed a schedule unbeaten.
Who knows what might transpire?
What we do know is the 49ers are far superior to the Cowboys, whose America’s Team nickname is sadly out of date.
Still, reputations linger in certain cases, notably that of Dallas, which is always in the news for no other reason than history, even undeserved.
The Niners, in contrast, might not attract the attention of the Cowboys, or didn’t until the thrashing, so they’ll simply have to win games under the radar.
Besides, you don’t have to be America’s Team to win the Super Bowl, just the best team in America.