Dan Quinn emerged as the voice with the best message for Cowboys after ugly 49ers loss

There’s been no sugarcoating how brutal the Dallas Cowboys’ 42-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers was on Sunday night. Even factoring in the loss to the Arizona Cardinals, it’s fair to assume this game hurt the team even more, as it marks the third consecutive loss to the 49ers, with the two prior eliminating them from the playoffs.

This was supposed to be the Cowboys’ chance to prove they were legitimate contenders and also make it known that they can hang with any team in the NFL, in any situation. Instead, Dallas has been a punchline for analysts and media, along with fans, since the loss.

Following the loss, there was understandably a number of players speaking out and voicing a wide range of emotions, but a comment made by one coach, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, a player favorite, feels as close to perfect as you can find for the Cowboys if they want to move past this loss and return to the form fans saw in Weeks 1 and 2.

In a great message, Quinn stated that this Cowboys team is “not going to let this game beat us twice,” as The Athletic’s Jon Machota revealed.

“When you get your ass kicked,” Quinn said Monday, “you really only got a couple choices in a fight: You pout about it or you get back up and say, ‘Bring it on’ and you get rocking again. And I certainly know that’s what we’re going to do. … I’ve been on teams where it goes the other way, where there’s finger pointing and blame. And that’s certainly not this group. We’re extremely disappointed, but also know what we’re made of. We’re not going to let this game beat us twice.”

It’s not only incredibly well-said, but it’s also vital for the Cowboys to follow through on Quinn’s message. They have three tough matchups ahead, first heading on the road to face the 2-2 Los Angeles Chargers, who are coming off a bye and also won their last two games. That’s followed by a game against the Los Angeles Rams, who are 2-3 but may have played the toughest schedule in the NFL thus far and pushed Dallas’ biggest rival to a close finish.

And speaking of that rival, the third game of this stretch is against the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles, who have had some close games through the first five weeks but remain atop the league.

If Dallas can emerge from this stretch with two to three wins, it’d go a long way toward repairing the obvious frustration that has to be looming after the 49ers game.