JUST CHILL: Good coaching leads to good grades, win in San Francisco

RUN OFFENSE: A Rookie Ezekiel Elliott has simply gotten better every week. He had 138 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown after gaining 140 on 30 carries against Chicago. He is the NFL’s leading rusher with 412 yards through four games and is on pace for more than 1,600 yards this season. The running game will only get better. The Cowboys have eight rushing touchdowns this season, which ties their 16-game total last season.

PASS OFFENSE: A How impressive was this? The Cowboys didn’t have their best receiver in Dez Bryant and it wasn’t a problem. Terrance Williams and Brice Butler stepped up with their first touchdown receptions of the season. But it was quarterback Dak Prescott who was the difference as he continued his amazingly, unflappable and mistake-free play. Prescott completed 22 of 32 passes for 245 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for the fourth consecutive game. No rookie in NFL history has gone the first four games of his career without an interception. No Cowboys team has ever began their first four games of the season without an interception and that includes teams led by Hall of Famers Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman as well injured Pro Bowler Tony Romo.

RUSH DEFENSE: B The Cowboys seemingly continue to get better as the game goes on. The 49ers rushed for 106 yards on Sunday. But 55 came in the first half and another 32 came on a big run to start the third quarter. After that the Cowboys defense rose up and shut them down. Consider that quarterback Blaine Gabbert had 20 yards rushing in the first half on zone reads. He had just 7 in the second half. Carlos Hyde had 10 carries for 62 yards following that big 32 yard run to start the second half. He had 12 yards the rest of the way.

PASS DEFENSE: B Same with the run defense. This was another example of a tale of two halves. The Cowboys had issues early as quarterback Blaine Gabbert was 8 of 11 for 112 yards passing, including a 33-yard touchdown in the first half. He finished the game 16 of 23 for 196 yards so just 84 yards passing in the second half. There were no blown coverages after halftime. Mo Claiborne had a crucial second-half interception. Claiborne also had a crucial fourth-down stop with a tackle of Torrey Smith after a catch to end any 49ers comeback hopes. The Cowboys had only one sack so the pass rush still needs work.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C This could turn into a potential problem. Kicker Dan Bailey missed a 47-yard field goal because of a tight back he complained about before the game. Chris Jones averaged 38.8 yards on four punts. The Cowboys also gave up a 26-yard punt return to TCU ex Jeremy Kerley

COACHING: A Jason Garrett took a lot of heat last week for the handling of the Dez Bryant fiasco and deservedly so. But give Garrett credit for rallying the Cowboys in the midst of the turmoil. Give him credit for getting his team a win despite a host of missing starters _ something that would have been unheard of last season. Give him credit for them bouncing back from a 14-point deficit on the road with a rookie quarterback. Nobody flinched. The same goes for defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli. He settled the defense down after being gashed early by Chip Kelly’s fastbreak offense.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 2:53 PM with the headline "JUST CHILL: Good coaching leads to good grades, win in San Francisco."