It wasn't about schemes, play calls, quarterback controversies or replay challenges. Wasn't about suits, stadiums or public relations strategies.

This was Football: It was about Nate Clements vs. Terrell Owens, precisely the everywhere-he-goes-you-go meeting that Mike Singletary wanted and demanded.

This was about the 49ers' highest-paid defensive player against one of the most dangerous, albeit struggling, offensive players in the NFL.

This was what the 49ers wanted. And in a microcosm of everything that has gone on, and gone wrong, for the 49ers since 2002, it was a titanic mismatch.

Owens 213, Clements 0.

Oh, by the way, the Cowboys smacked the 49ers by a 35-22 score at Texas Stadium on Sunday, dominating this game in every way except for two early 49ers drives that ominously stalled out inside the Dallas 10-yard line.

But it was the TO KO that set the tone and gave this game its theme: The Cowboys' best players were faster, stronger, more focused and generally far, far better than the 49ers' best.

The Cowboys were better in the beginning, when Shaun Hill twice couldn't get the 49ers into the end zone from close range and Mike Martz realized the Cowboys defense was keyed to stop Frank Gore (14 carries, 26 yards).

And the Cowboys were especially better once Owens beat Clements over the top for a 75-yard score and it never really stopped.

Owens did not catch a ball in the first quarter, but still ended up with 7 catches for 213 yards, almost every yard coming against Clements, matched in single-coverage.

This wasn't coaching. This was playing.

"I'm going to defend Nate and say that Nate's better than that," Singletary said after the game. "Nate's a good Football player. Nate can cover T.O.

"He did not today. But I'm not going to sit here and make excuses for him, 'Maybe we should've given more help.' No, I totally disagree with that. I just think we did a bad job and I'll leave it at that."

Singletary hinted that the 49ers' scheme included some press coverage on Owens, but that, after a few long gains, Clements started backing off on his own.

After Singletary called him over for a private talk in the locker room, Clements marched to his locker, put on his clothes then addressed every question tossed at him from the waiting reporters.

"(Owens) got off today, you know? I'm not taking away from him," Clements said. "But I still have confidence in what I can do against anybody. I mean, I'm going to make the corrections and I'm going to be right back in it.

"My mind set is I'm down overall how the season is going, and frustrated. But I'm confident in my abilities and myself and my teammates."

Clements' confidence is not in question. The 49ers paid him $22 million in guarantees before last season because he's tough and because they needed a lockdown corner.

But the problem is that Clements is not a lockdown corner, though the 49ers still want to believe that he is.

The problem is that the 49ers have a lot of players who aren't really what the 49ers say and hope they are.

And the double problem is that, under the Mike Nolan/McCloughan regime, they have shown no inclination to go out and get the kind of combustible, fiery players who can win games on their own.

Nolan and McCloughan like safe players, and they drafted accordingly. And now the 49ers have a safe roster full of guys who get regularly torched by playmakers.

As a barometer for Singletary's employment beyond this season, this game has neutral status: Neither a plus nor a minus, because it's mostly a report card on the 49ers' roster, which is barren of playmakers.

Owens is a handful in every way as he was as a 49er, of course, and he has only gotten testier.

But, after a five-game lull in which he totaled 174 receiving yards and heard whispers that he'd lost his big-play ability, Owens took over this particular game by shredding Clements to pieces.

"It's really unfortunate that it happened, but I'm not going to all of a sudden say T.O.'s the greatest guy in the world, greatest receiver in the world," Singletary said.

"I think he does a heckuva job. But I just think when you're not playing smart and you're not playing with confidence, sometimes that's going to happen. I would not say that Nate can't cover that guy. I would say Nate could cover him all over the field."

Singletary was trying to buck up Clements at that point, and probably was trying to buck himself up, a little. Even Singletary has to be realizing that this team isn't actually under-achieving.

The 49ers are 3-8, and they are exactly what their record says they are.