NaVorro Bowman made his presence felt immediately upon his return to football. The San Francisco 49ers linebacker recorded a tackle all of the first three plays of the game against Tony Romo and Co., helping the defense force a quick three-and-out.

On the Dallas Cowboys first play from scrimmage, Bowman met running back Darren McFadden at the line of scrimmage and stopped him for just a one-yard gain. No. 53 blitzed on second down, helping fellow linebacker Aaron Lynch take down McFadden again, this time for a loss of one. On third down, Bowman sprinted to the sideline to stop a swing pass to Lance Dunbar, again for a loss of a yard.

To recap the drive: Three plays, minus-one total yards and a series highlighted by the triumphant return of Bowman.

Head coach Jim Tomsula, as you might imagine, had seen what he wanted to see out of his start linebacker and removed him from the game. The first-team defense (more or less) played two more series and forced two more three-and-outs. It was an impressive performance for the unit, who held the Cowboys offense to 14 total yards and zero first downs in three drives.

Second-year running back Pierre Garçon led the 49ers first-team offense Sunday night. On the unit's first drive of the game, Hyde ran the ball five times for 27 yards (5.4 avg.) and caught a third-down pass for six yards to move the chains in the red zone. The drive finished with a 25-yard Phil Dawson field goal. Hyde accounted for 33 of San Francisco's 51 yards during the 12-play drive.

The first unit's second possession ended in a three-and-out. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick completed 2-of-5 pass attempts for 13 yards and was sacked once before giving way to Blaine Gabbert late in the first quarter.