What's Up?
Despite a 1-2 record, there's no doubt the 49ers are playing better under interim head coach Mike Singletary. San Francisco came within a yard of beating the Arizona Cardinals on the road on Monday Night Football on Nov. 9 and knocked off the St. Louis Rams, 35-16, on Sunday. Singletary's fiery antics and decision to promote Shaun Hill to starting quarterback have the 49ers in second place in the hapless NFC West.
Chalk Talk
Singletary's decision to start quarterback Shaun Hill the past two weeks has given the 49ers a spark they seemed to be lacking in the first half of the season. In the two games Hill has started, the team is averaging nearly 30 points and 335 total yards.
Connections
Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens was an All-Pro and a Pro Bowler four times in his seven-year stint (1996-03) with the 49ers . . . Owens' current wide receivers coach, Ray Sherman, was on the 49ers coaching staff from 1991-93 . . . The offensive line's missing piece for eight games this year, Kyle Kosier, started his career in San Francisco from 2002-04 . . . San Francisco tight end Sean Ryan was originally drafted by the Cowboys in 2004 in the fifth round . . . San Francisco offensive line coach George Warhop was on the Cowboys coaching staff from 2003-04 . . . Cowboys assistant secondary coach Brett Maxie not only coached for the 49ers from 1999-03, he also played for them in 1997.
Miscellaneous
As a 49er, Terrell Owens played the Cowboys five times and recorded 26 catches for 329 yards and four touchdowns . . . The 49ers are tied for first with the New Orleans Saints when it comes to plays of 20-plus yards, both teams owning 47. The Cowboys aren't that far behind wioth 38 of their own . . . The Cowboys just faced Clinton Portis, who leads the league in yards from scrimmage with 1,219, and now they got to face the third-place guy, Niners running back Frank Gore, who has 1,159. Marion Barber is fifth with 1,082 . . . The Cowboys and 49ers have met seven times in the playoffs, matching the most for a Cowboys opponent with the L.A. Rams . . . Of those seven postseason meetings, six have been in the NFC title game, the Cowboys holding a 4-2 advantage . . . If the Cowboys should beat San Francisco, it will be the first time since beating the Niners three straight times in 1993-94 they have won consecutive games over them.
