Brock Purdy helps the 49ers bounce back with a 30-24 victory over the Cowboys

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — One dominant quarter against Dallas proved to be enough for the San Francisco 49ers to head into their bye week on a high note.

Brock Purdy bounced back from a shaky first half to lead three touchdown drives in the third quarter and the Niners narrowly avoided another fourth-quarter collapse with a late defensive stand that sealed a 30-24 victory Sunday night.

“We're a confident team," left tackle Trent Williams said. “We know that we haven't played up to our standard that many times in these first eight games. I don't think that we were looking at this game to draw some newfound confidence. I just think that when we can run the ball effectively and not turn it over, the results today are what we can expect.”

The Niners (4-4) bounced back from a loss last week in a Super Bowl rematch against Kansas City with a strong performance against the Cowboys (3-4) that they hope will set them up for another big push in the second half of the season.

San Francisco went 16-2 following its Week 9 bye week the past two seasons to make it to the NFC title game in 2022 and the Super Bowl last season.

Purdy had a TD run and threw a TD pass during the 21-0 third-quarter blitz that turned a 10-6 halftime deficit into a 27-10 lead.

But San Francisco had to hold on late after Dak Prescott threw two TD passes to CeeDee Lamb to cut the deficit to six. Prescott had a chance to complete the comeback, but threw four straight incomplete passes after getting the ball back with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter.

“I was frustrated. We made it a game when it didn't need to be," linebacker Fred Warner said. "We put ourselves in that situation so we had to get ourselves out. It was about going out there and finishing the game and we did that.”

San Francisco took control in the third quarter, driving 60 yards after the opening kick of the half to score on rookie Isaac Guerendo's 4-yard run.

Deommodore Lenoir's interception that set up San Francisco in Dallas territory, leading to Purdy's 2-yard touchdown pass to George Kittle, who finished with six catches for 128 yards.

The Niners then drove 75 yards for another TD when Purdy scored on a sneak from 2 yards out.

“I saw the rest of our team was clicking and I just had to do my job,” Purdy said. “Third quarter, I came out and kept it simple, but also played aggressive.”

Purdy bounced back from a three-interception performance last week against the Chiefs to go 18 for 26 for 260 yards against Dallas.

The Cowboys returned from their bye and didn't look a whole lot better for most of the game than they did in a 47-9 loss at home to Detroit two weeks ago.

Prescott threw two interceptions for a third straight game — the first Cowboys quarterback to do that in 32 years — and struggled to generate any consistent offense until the fourth quarter.

The defense struggled to slow San Francisco down at all outside of when the Niners committed penalties or Purdy was off-target on a few passes. It added up to another loss that will increase the outside pressure on coach Mike McCarthy, who is in the final year of his contract.

“As coaches and players we can learn from this,” McCarthy said. “We’re 3-4, that’s the facts of this deal. I’m disappointed. We obviously felt we were going to come in here and do what we needed to do to get the win and we came up short.”

Prescott finished 25 for 38 for 243 yards. Lamb caught 13 passes for 146 yards.

49ers: RB Jordan Mason went to the locker room in the first half after re-injuring his shoulder that forced him to miss most of the secodn half two weeks ago against Seattle. ... LB Dee Winters left the game in the second half with a concussion. ... WR Deebo Samuel (ribs) left in the fourth quarter.

Cowboys: At Atlanta on Sunday.

49ers: At Tampa Bay on Nov. 10.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, middle, is hit by San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Sam Okuayinonu during the first half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy watches from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) runs against Dallas Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson (6) during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

San Francisco 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo (31) celebrates after scoring against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) reacts after catching a touchdown pass against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, foreground left, intercepts a pass intended for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle, middle, is congratulated by wide receiver Chris Conley (18) and teammates after catching a touchdown pass against the Dallas Cowboys during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, middle, celebrates after scoring a touchdown with tight end George Kittle (85) and guard Dominick Puni (77) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)

BANGKOK (AP) — Three well-armed militias launched a surprise joint offensive in northeastern Myanmar a year ago, breaking a strategic stalemate with the regime's military with rapid gains of huge swaths of territory and inspiring others to attack around the country.

The military's control had seemed firmly ensconced with vast superiority in troops and firepower, plus material support from Russia and China. But today the government is increasingly on the back foot, with the loss of dozens of outposts, bases and strategic cities that even its leaders concede would be challenging to take back.

“The military is on the defensive all over the country, and every time it puts its energy into one part of the country, it basically has to shift troops and then is vulnerable in other parts,” said Connor Macdonald of the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar advocacy group.

“To us it doesn't look like there's any viable route back for the military to recapture any of the territory that it's lost.”

The military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, triggering intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmar's ethnic minority groups in its border regions, which have struggled for decades for more autonomy.

The army's takeover also sparked the formation of pro-democracy militias known as People's Defense Forces. They support the opposition National Unity Government, which was established by elected lawmakers barred from taking their seats after the army takeover.

But until the launch of Operation 1027, eponymously named for its Oct. 27 start, the military, known as the Tatmadaw, had largely been able to prevent major losses around the country.

Operation 1027 brought coordinated attacks from three of the most powerful ethnic armed groups, known as the Three Brotherhood Alliance: the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the Arakan Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. The alliance quickly captured towns and overran military bases and outposts along the Chinese border in northeastern Shan state.

Two weeks later, the Arakan Army launched attacks in its western home state of Rakhine, and since then other militia groups and PDFs have joined in around the country.

A year after the offensive began, resistance forces now fully or partially control a vast horseshoe of territory. It starts in Rakhine state in the west, runs across the north and then heads south into Kayah and Kayin states along the Thai border. The Tatmadaw has pulled back toward central Myanmar, around the capital Naypyidaw and largest city of Yangon.

“I never thought our goals would be achieved so quickly,” Lway Yay Oo, spokesperson for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, told The Associated Press. “We only thought that we would attack the military council together to the extent we could, but it has been easier than expected so we’ve been able to conquer more quickly.”

Along the way, the Tatmadaw has suffered some humiliating defeats, including the loss of the city of Laukkai in an assault in which the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army captured more than 2,000 troops, including six generals; and of the city of Lashio, which had been home to the military's Northeast Command.

“The 1027 offensive was a highly impressive operation, quite complex, and the use of drones played a big role because basically they were able to dismantle the military's network of fire-support bases across northern Shan,” said Morgan Michaels, a Singapore-based analyst with the International Institute of Strategic Studies who runs its Myanmar Conflict Map project.

“And then, once the military's artillery support eroded, they were able to overrun harder targets like towns and battalion headquarters.”

A year later, the military is “substantially weakened,” he said, but it's too early to write it off.

The Tatmadaw has managed to claw back the town of Kawlin in the Sagaing region, which had fallen in the first days of the 1027 offensive, stave off an attack by three ethnic Karenni militias on Loikaw, the capital of Kayah state, and has retained administrative control of Myawaddy, a key border crossing with Thailand, after holding off an assault by one ethnic group with the assistance of a rival militia.

Many expect the military to launch a counteroffensive when the rainy season soon comes to an end, bolstered by some 30,000 new troops since activating conscription in February and its complete air superiority.

But at the same time, resistance groups are closing in on Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city, in the center of the country.

And where they might be out-gunned, they have gained strength, hard-won experience and confidence over the last year, said the Ta’ang National Liberation Army's Lway Yay Oo.

“We have military experience on our side, and based on this experience we can reinforce the fighting operation,” she said.

Thet Swe, a spokesperson for the military regime, conceded it will be a challenge for the Tatmadaw to dislodge the Three Brotherhood Alliance from the territory it has gained.

“We cannot take it back during one year,” he told the AP in an e-mailed answer to questions. “However, I hope that I will give you a joyful message ... in (the) coming two or three years.”

As the military has faced setbacks in the fighting on the ground, it has been increasingly relying on indiscriminate air and artillery strikes, resulting in a 95% increase in civilian deaths from airstrikes and a 170% increase in civilians killed by artillery since the 1027 offensive began, according to a report last month by the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Tatmadaw has been accused of deliberately targeting civilians whom it believes support the resistance militias, a tactic that is only turning more against them, said Isabel Todd, coordinator for the SAC-M group.

“It doesn't seem to be having the effect that they want it to have,” she said. “It’s making them even more hated by the population and really strengthening the resolve to ensure that this is the end of the Myanmar military as it’s known.”

Military spokesperson Thet Swe denied targeting civilians, saying it was militia groups that were responsible for killing civilians and burning villages.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting, and there are now more than 3 million internally displaced people in Myanmar overall, and some 18.6 million people in need, according to the U.N.

At the same time, the 2024 humanitarian response plan is only 1/3 funded, hindering the delivery of aid, said Sajjad Mohammad Sajid, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs operation in Myanmar.

“The humanitarian outlook for the next year is grim, and we anticipate that the deteriorating situation will have a massive impact on the protection of civilians," he said in an interview.

In some areas, however, the offensive has eased pressure, like northwestern Chin state, which borders Bangladesh and India and had previously been the focus of many of the Tatmadaw's operations, said Salai Htet Ni, a spokesperson for the Chin National Front whose armed wing has been involved in fighting the military.

“In October of last year the military convoys that were going up into the Chin mountains were withdrawn,” he said. “As a result of the 1027 operation there have been almost no major military activities.”

As the front has expanded it has seen militias advancing out of their own ethnic areas, like when Rakhine-based Arakan Army in January seized the Chin town of Paletwa, which has given rise to some friction between groups, foreshadowing possible future strife should the Tatmadaw eventually fall.

In the case of Paletwa, Salai Htet Ni said his group was happy that the AA took it from the Tatmadaw, but added that there should have been negotiations before they began operating in Chin territory and that the AA should now bring Chin forces in to help administer the area.

“Negotiations are mandatory for these regional administration issues,” he said. “But we will negotiate this case through dialogue, not military means.”

At the moment there is a degree of solidarity between the different ethnic groups as they focus on a common enemy, but Aung Thu Nyein, director of communications for the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar think tank said that does not translate to common aspirations.

Should the Tatmadaw fall, it could lead to the fragmentation of Myanmar unless the groups work hard to resolve political and territorial differences.

“As far as I see, there is no established mechanism to resolve the issues,” he said. “The resistance being able to bring down the junta is unlikely, but I cannot discount this scenario, (and) if we cannot build trust and common goals, it could lead to the scenario of Syria.”

Complicating the political picture is the influence of neighboring China, which is believed to have tacitly supported the 1027 offensive in what turned out to be a successful bid to largely shut down organized crime activities that had been flourishing along its border.

In January, Beijing used its close ties with both the Tatmadaw and the Three Brotherhood groups to negotiate a ceasefire in northern Shan, which lasted for five months until the ethnic alliance opened phase two of the 1027 offensive in June, accusing the military of violating the ceasefire.

China has been displeased with the development, shutting down border crossings, cutting electricity to Myanmar towns and taking other measures in a thus-far unsuccessful attempt to end the fighting.

Its support for the regime also seems to be growing, with China's envoy to Myanmar urging the powerful United Wa State Army, which wasn't involved in the 1027 offensive or related fighting, to actively pressure the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army to halt the renewed offensive, according to leaked details of an August meeting widely reported by local media.

There is no evidence that the UWSA has done that, however.

“The idea that the northern groups and the Three Brotherhood Alliance etc. are somehow just agents of China is a complete misconception,” Todd said.

“They have their own objectives which they are pursuing that are independent of what China may or may not want them to do, and that's apparent in the incredible amount of pressure that China has put on them recently.”

Because of the grassroot support for the resistance, it is less vulnerable to outside influence, said Kyaw Zaw, a spokesperson for the opposition National Unity Government.

“No matter who is putting pressure on us, we are winning because of the power of the people,” he said.

In this photo provided by Mandalay People's Defence Force, its members pose for a photograph in front of the gate of the captured army battalion in Mogok township in Mandalay region, Myanmar, on July 25, 2024. (Mandalay People's Defence Force via AP)

In this photo provided by Mandalay People's Defence, members of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, one of the ethnic armed forces in the Brotherhood Alliance, and Mandalay People's Defence Force pose for a photograph in front of the captured building of the Myanmar's War Veterans' Organisation in Nawnghkio township in Shan state, Myanmar, on June 26, 2024. (Mandalay People's Defence Force via AP)