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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – For most teams in the NFL, especially this year's version of the Cowboys, it takes four really good quarters of football to win a game.

However, it only takes one really awful quarter to lose a game.

The Cowboys found that out the hard way here Sunday night, getting beat by the 49ers, who completely dominated them in the third quarter.

Sure, the Cowboys won the other three quarters by a combined score of 17-9. But it doesn't matter if you come out of halftime and get worked, 21-0.

Seriously? Twenty-one points to nothing in the third quarter?

Now, that's what ultimately doomed the Cowboys, but they didn't exactly help themselves early on the first quarter or at the very end either. The old adage of "it's now how you start, but how you finish" doesn't always apply to football.

In fact, in today's NFL, where the games are designed to go down to the wire, usually it comes down to how you start … and how you finish.

And for the Cowboys, they didn't do either one well enough to win this one.

Wow, if this game didn't look a lot like the Ravens loss from a few weeks ago. It was pretty much the same game to me. The 49ers took control, mostly on the ground game and looked like they were going to blow out the Cowboys. But then, somewhat in the "too-little-too-late" category, the Cowboys make a rally and come pretty close to getting back in the game – only to have it come crashing down in the end.

And that's pretty much what happened again. Yeah, the 49ers had somewhat of a lull on offense and stopped scoring after a great third quarter. And the defense was giving up some plays to CeeDee Lamb as the Cowboys scrambled to get back in the game.

But in the very end, when the 49ers defense had to get a stop, the Cowboys didn't even get a yard. And then the San Francisco offense took over and picked up a crucial first down and the game was over.

If you add that to the Cowboys' struggles to start the game, then you get a 30-24 loss here to the 49ers, who have dominated this rivalry in the last few years.

And honestly, I really don't know why I'm surprised, but I was. I seriously thought the Cowboys would show us something a lot different.

While all of my colleagues around me picked the 49ers to win, based off recent history, I made my pick from history as well. Something told me the Cowboys would be a different team coming out of the bye. That's the way it has been under Mike McCarthy-coached teams. I took that, combined with the 49ers' recent injuries, and thought maybe they could sneak out a win.

Turns out, the bye week really didn't do anything to help the Cowboys.

Sure, it might have started out like things were different, and there was that flurry in the fourth quarter, but in the end – the very end – the 49ers did what they wanted to do, no matter who was in or out of the lineup.

And that's a credit to the 49ers and their coaching staff for what has been built here. Yeah, they're not the same offense without Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey, just like the Cowboys aren't the same without Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and DaRon Bland, but San Francisco still finds a way to be functional. And against this Cowboys defense, they were better than that. After a slow start, the 49ers figured out how to beat the Cowboys in the third quarter and that proved to be the difference in the game.

And to be honest, who is surprised?

I came across this stat two weeks ago, and I've probably overused it, but until the Cowboys fix it, I'll keep saying it because it reared its very-ugly head once again: The Cowboys have been terrible at the start – at the start of the game, at the start of the second half. And it's both sides of the ball.

After seven games, it's more than a trend, it's a pretty-big problem.

The Cowboys have yet to score a touchdown at the first of a game, but yet they continue to take the ball when they win the toss. Once again, the Cowboys punted right away, which was rather depressing because of the two weeks off. You'd like to think they would've schemed something better than just one first down and a punt.

But don't be too upset about the Cowboys taking the ball to start the game. They're doing nothing with the ball to start the third quarter either.

On offense, the Cowboys have had now 14 possessions to start a game or half and just have three field goals to show for it – none of which occurred Sunday night.

Unfortunately, the defense has been even worse at the start of games and halves. Of the 14 possessions they've played this year, teams have scored 13 times. Seriously? That's 92 percent for the opponents to score on the first drive of any half.

That's absurd. And I'm sorry, that comes down to preparation – both for the coaches and the players.

We've heard the players, particularly Dak Prescott, say it too many times this year how the practices have to be better. We heard Jourdan Lewis talk about the players not being "detailed' enough in their prep work, both in practice and in the film room.

And that's the part that shows the most when you start a game, and when you come out of the locker room in the third quarter. There seems to be no adjustments at all, and it's getting the team beat.

Add up every opening drive, both offense and defense, and the score is 71-15.

Yeah, the Cowboys are getting beat 71 to 15 on the first drives of every half this year. To me, that's the official score of what is an underlining problem – the Cowboys are getting out-schemed and out-played and it all leads to being out-scored.

OK, so the Cowboys rallied late to turn what looked like a blowout into a one-score game with a chance to win, but they couldn't do it.

They struggled at the start and couldn't finish at the end. If you do that often enough, it really doesn't matter what happens in between.