49ers advance as Cowboys run out of time
This may not have been one of the best-played games that has defined an iconic NFL rivalry, but the latest iteration of the 49ers-Cowboys playoff competition was unforgettable nevertheless (even if it was unforgettable because of all the mistakes, missed opportunities and questionable decisions down the stretch).
In the end, the 49ers held on for a dramatic 23-17 win over the Cowboys in an NFC wild-card game Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
San Francisco will face the top-seeded Packers in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.
It wasn’t easy, though. The Cowboys fought back from a 23-7 deficit in the fourth quarter and had two chances near the end to tie or even win.
But after a frantic sequence of events down the stretch — which ended with a questionable run call by Dak Prescott with no timeouts left and the Cowboys unable to spike the ball for one final shot at the end zone — the 49ers finally prevailed.
"That’s the cool thing about football; it’s never a seven-game series," said Kyle Shanahan, who coached the 49ers to the Super Bowl two years ago. "There’s lots of ways to win one game. I feel like we have a team built to do it. I’d like to finish better at the end, but I’m proud of the guys. When they found adversity, they still found a way to win."
The 49ers seemed to have the game in hand with a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter, but Dallas scored 10 unanswered points to make it a one-score game. San Francisco was on the threshold of closing out the game by virtue of a first down near midfield on a quarterback sneak by Jimmy Garoppolo, but an illegal shift penalty forced the 49ers to punt, giving Dallas the ball at its own 20 with 32 seconds left.
Prescott drove the Cowboys to midfield with 14 seconds left and had a shot to make at least one, if not two, long passes for the tying score. Instead, he ran up the middle for 17 yards to the 49ers’ 24 to try to set up one last play. But the Cowboys failed to give the ball to the umpire in time to set the next play, and time expired by the time Prescott took the snap.
As the officials ran off the field at the conclusion of the game, they were pelted with debris by several fans near the tunnel leading to the locker room area.
Prescott initially chided fans when asked about the postgame reaction, but when told the fans were directing their anger at the officials, he said, “Credit to them, then.”
It was yet another devastating playoff loss for the Cowboys, who haven’t played in the NFC Championship Game since their last Super Bowl in the 1995 season. And with second-year coach Mike McCarthy presiding over a team that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had hoped would make a title run, McCarthy’s status may be in doubt.
"I can’t remember the last time I was this disappointed," Jones said. "Extremely disappointing, and surprising."
When asked about McCarthy’s future, Jones said he didn’t "even want to discuss anything like that at this particular time." But Jones did acknowledge that the Cowboys’ window of opportunity is slim: "I think this is a time that you get this combination of players together, you need to have success, because we all know how it goes in the NFL. The whole thing is set up to take away from the best and add to the ones that need improvement. Personnel-wise, I think we have one of the best."
But they certainly didn’t play like it, and McCarthy presided over a penalty-filled game that resulted in a first-round loss.
"I’m disappointed as hell. This is gonna sting for a long time," he said.
The Cowboys had a chance to drive for the tying score with 2:42 left, but after getting to the 49ers’ 46, Prescott was sacked and then threw three straight incompletions. When they got the ball back again, time simply ran out on their season.
The 49ers outplayed the Cowboys in the first half, building a 16-7 lead by scoring on their first four possessions and churning out 203 yards of offense. Elijah Mitchell scored on a 4-yard run on the 49ers’ first possession and Robbie Gould added field goals of 53, 40 and 52 yards. That made him 18-for-18 on postseason field goals, the most without a miss in NFL playoff history.
"Whenever you’ve got to battle at the end like that, it shows real team," Garoppolo said. "You look guys in the eyes and see who’s in the moment and ready for it. It’s going to [serve] us well down the road. This is not going to be easy going into Lambeau. We know it’s going to be a tough challenge, but we’re going to be ready for it."
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
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