Everything Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott said after Cowboys lose to 49ers yet again

The San Francisco 49ers undoubtedly have the Dallas Cowboys' number.

Dallas may never exercise their demons against their non-division rival. The 30-24 Week 8 Sunday Night Football defeat marks their latest shortcoming versus San Francisco. Nevertheless, after another loss to the 49ers, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Dak Prescott sounded down but not out.

McCarthy and Prescott addressed the media following the primetime showdown, expressing similar messages. Surely, neither is happy to suffer a second consecutive loss. However, they believe this recent skid is merely a blip on the radar, though their dissatisfaction over constantly failing to beat the Niners was palpable.

Everything Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott said after Cowboys lose to 49ers yet again

Based on his team's preparation throughout the week leading up to the contest, McCarthy felt "very confident" the Cowboys could finally edge out the 49ers. Ultimately, he and the group left the Bay Area "disappointed" with the result.

The absence of running back Rico Dowdle "definitely" played a factor in the Cowboys' non-existent ground game, McCarthy pronounced during his postgame press conference. Dallas seemingly had no chance of pounding the rock successfully, demonstrated by their 56 total rush yards and 2.9 yards per attempt.

"[Dowdle] was the first guy in the rotation," "McCarthy mentioned. Without their incumbent starter (who was out due to illness), Dallas turned to a combination of washed-up veteran tailbacks -- Ezekiel Elliot and Dalvin Cook. It's safe to say that backfired, to put it kindly.

49ers tight end George Kittle scored a two-yard touchdown in the third quarter to put San Francisco up by 10 points. The refs threw a flag multiple flags on the play for what many suspected to be an offensive pass interference penalty that led to the score. Shortly after, the officials elected to let it stand, which flabbergasted McCarthy.

"I thought it was clearly a pick play," McCarthy stated. He didn't mince words and kept his response about the controversial no-call rather brief, likely to avoid any fines.

"Frustrated" was the common word and theme of Prescott's interview. Despite the unideal circumstances, he feels members of the Cowboys locker room aren't wavering:

"Nobody's shaken or giving up, frustration is very high, but it's a long season."

With Prescott healthy and under center, Dallas hasn't been below .500 this far into the season since 2018. Yet, things only get tougher for the Cowboys in the coming weeks as they enter the gauntlet of their schedule. Asked about the upcoming slate of opponents and how they can overcome it, the signal-caller said the team must "take it one at a time."

"In this league, you get hot, you get rolling and that's all you're looking to do," Prescott told reporters.

While McCarthy and Prescott try to downplay Dallas' struggles and mitigate the outside noise, it'll only get harder if the losses keep piling up.