"Our guys have lost games before," said Coach Barry Switzer. "They're resilient; they'll come back. It was bigger to them than to us. It was big to us, but had to mean more to them because they'd lost three in a row."

It is not clear whether the Cowboys' flaws today will become long-term problems. Aikman banged his thumb on a teammates' helmet during Friday's practice, and the swelling has alternated in size and color ever since. Friday, he was panicked; Saturday, his blood pressure was normal; this morning, he nodded and said, "I'm fine," to Switzer. His passes still spiraled, and he completed 23 of 42 passes for 339 yards, but 3 landed in enemy hands. He had not thrown three interceptions in a game since last Dec. 18 against the Jets, and it startled him.

"Blame me," he said.

His last interception was the most alarming error because it happened late, at the 49er goal line, with Dallas trailing only 14-7. But he said it was not the thumb. "It'd be wrong to suggest that had a major impact," he said of his injury.

Switzer said: "Troy was throwing the zip out of the football. A couple of those out routes, he had rocket fuel on the ball."

Aikman had his accurate moments, too, including two pinpoint passes to the person who supposedly had the brittlest body of all: Alvin Harper. Harper actually had more trouble getting to this game than playing in it. He not only injured his knee last Monday night against the Giants, but he was roughed up in a car accident the next afternoon. On Tuesday, he was supposedly out for the season; on Wednesday, he was supposedly out for this game; today, he caught a fly pattern for 90 yards.