Fourth-and-10 is obviously tough to convert, but they had a better chance of picking that up and driving for a score than they did of tying the game in the situation they got later on.ĭallas only got the ball back because Elijah Mitchell ran out of bounds on what should have been the game-sealing run.

With that little time remaining, Dallas probably just needed to go for it on fourth down. But Dallas took too long to snap the ball, meaning the 49ers only had to run one play before the two-minute warning.

The Cowboys had all three of their timeouts remaining, so McCarthy sent the punt team onto the field, hoping that his defensive could get a stop and get the ball back. That set up fourth-and-10 from the Dallas 18-yard line, with the clock running and just over two minutes left to play. Facing third-and-10 from their own 18-yard line, Prescott tried to step up through the pocket and make a play, but he was caught from behind by Samson Ebukam. Dak then threw inaccurately to Gallup deep down the field, even though Gallup had a step on Niners corner Charvarius Ward. Dak nearly ended the game himself with a short pass to Dalton Schultz that should have been picked off and taken to the house by Dre Greenlaw, only Greenlaw dropped the ball. Questionable late-game decision-makingĪfter the Niners added a field goal to push the lead back to seven points, the Cowboys had a chance to drive for the game-tying score. If they had been able to make it a more easily-convertable fourth-down opportunity, McCarthy might have been more willing to go for it. The team's third-down play was a short pass from Prescott to Lamb, but Prescott was way off with the throw. He converted from 43 yards out, but given the way Dallas' offense had played to that point in the game, the Cowboys probably needed to come away from that drive with a touchdown. On fourth-and-8 from the 25-yard line, McCarthy sent Maher onto the field for a field goal attempt. In the fourth quarter, the Cowboys drove the ball deep into 49ers territory, but stalled just outside the red zone.

Dallas then committed penalties on back-to-back snaps, and two plays later, Christian McCaffrey plunged into the end zone for a touchdown. With a chance to make a game-changing interception, Diggs dropped the ball. Then Gallup let Deommodore Lenoir cut right in front of him and intercept the ball with basically zero resistance.Ī few snaps later, a Brock Purdy pass intended for Brandon Aiyuk was tipped at the line of scrimmage, and the ball fell right into Diggs' chest. Gallup ran a comeback route to the sticks, but he was not open and Prescott threw him the ball anyway. On Dallas' second possession of the game, Dak Prescott made an incredibly ill-advised throw to Michael Gallup on third-and-9, trying to pick up the first down. They arguably played just as well as did the 49ers on Sunday, but they repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with crucial mistakes. They've now gone 27 years since making it to the NFC championship, a streak exceeded only by the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and division rival Washington Commanders.Īs was so often the case when they came up short in previous postseasons, much of the blame for this loss can be laid at the feet of the Cowboys themselves. The loss made this their 12th consecutive playoff berth without making it to the conference title game, the longest streak since the NFL-AFL merger. © TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS.The Dallas Cowboys' season came to a close on Sunday night with a 19-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round.

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